"We'd be in a far worse position" - Middlesbrough backed after Latte Lath, Ipswich Town transfer situation | OneFootball

FLW has been speaking with our Boro fan pundit over the form of Emmanuel Latte Lath sparking cause for concern, and perhaps transfer regret...

Middlesbrough striker Emmanuel Latte Lath has struggled to replicate his goalscoring form of last season so far this term, throwing Boro's decision to reject a £20m approach from Ipswich Town for Ivorian international in August into doubt.

Boro's number nine was the subject of a £20m bid from the Tractor Boys in the final hours of the summer transfer window, but the Teessiders chose to turn down the offer.

That was largely down to Michael Carrick and the club's decision makers feeling like they've built a squad that is capable of winning promotion to the Premier League this season, meaning cashing in on their prized possessions wouldn't be in their thinking.

However, after just one goal from his opening 10 Championship fixtures so far this term, Latte Lath's form has compounded Middlesbrough's misery in front of goal to this point.

So, should his goal drought be a real cause for concern for Boro fans? Is there signs he can still be the man to fire the club to promotion this season? Or should the club be regretting not selling him in the summer? Football League World investigates...

Boro fan pundit: "I would be dropping him"

We posed the question of whether there is cause for concern over Lath's performances so far this season, and if in hindsight, Boro should've cashed in on him to Ipswich Town in the summer, to our Middlesbrough fan pundit, Jasper Hudson.

"But, there's a real inability to finish chances in the squad at the minute, and his only goal came from the penalty spot. So, no open play goals in the first 10 games of the season, when he probably should have four or five.

"His xG (Expected Goals) is 4, so he's underperforming his xG by three goals. But, from what I've seen, he could easily have five or six already this season.

"But, it's partly bad luck, partly just goalkeepers making good saves, and partly his own fault. So, it's definitely cause for concern, and I would be dropping him for Tommy Conway."

Speaking on whether Middlesbrough may regret not selling him to the Tractor Boys in the summer for a potential fee of £20m, Hudson said: "Off the back of this form, in hindsight, taking the money still would've been the wrong decision.

"He's getting in the positions and he's coming close, and I think it might be a case of like last season where we have to wait a bit for it to click, which isn't great for us because it's costing us now.

"But, later in the season when he's scoring the goals, it will turnaround. I think if we'd have cashed in on him in the summer and let him go to Ipswich, we'd be in a far worse position.

"I don't think we'd have been able to replace him, and I don't think what we had at the club would've been substantial enough to even consider the play-offs. I think if we'd sold him, it would've been very tough to find a replacement.

"If we hadn't found a replacement, there would definitely have been a lot of frustration from fans because we'd be really weak going forward."

Latte Lath must recapture scoring form for the sake of his transfer value, and Boro's promotion chances

If you were to have asked any Middlesbrough fan about what they thought may be one of the main things that could go wrong this season, very few would've predicted that Latte Lath would seemingly lose his shooting boots.

However, after the opening 10 Championship fixtures and just one goal to his name - coming on the opening day -, and well, that's exactly what appears to have happened.

For a striker who provided such a sharp cutting edge in Middlesbrough's attack last term, his early season transition to a centre-forward who looks devoid of that confidence and swagger that saw him become an instant hit with the Riverside faithful, has been one of the most shocking storylines of the Championship season so far.

After fending off interest from clubs such as Red Bull Salzburg, AS Monaco, Wolves and Stuttgart in the summer, before rejecting Ipswich's big-money bid in the final hours of the window, Middlesbrough sent a clear message of their intentions this season; promotion at all costs.

One such cost in that pursuit of Premier League football being the opportunity to fill the club's coffers with the profits of a Latte Lath sale, but the potential prize of promotion was clearly one that Boro deemed achievable this season.

It, of course, may still well be, but the form of their number nine must improve soon if they are to give themselves a realistic chance of toasting the return of top-flight football come May.

The prospect of the floodgates opening when it comes to him scoring goals once again is a tantalizingly frustrating thought in the minds of Middlesbrough fans, as they, and indeed the rest of the division are well aware that when he's on form, there are few more deadly at second tier level.

However, for that to happen, Lath must find that precious drought-ending goal, and that's proving a far easier task said than done at this moment in time.

Should he be unable to recapture his scoring form from last season, Middlesbrough may struggle to fetch the kind of transfer fee that the Tractor Boys tabled for the Ivorian in the coming windows.