Leeds United's Championship promotion rivals confirm record-breaking £22.5m deal after deadline
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Leeds United’s Championship promotion rivals Middlesbrough have confirmed the departure of striker Emmanuel Latte Lath following the agreement of a massive £22.5million deal with Atalanta United.
Latte Lath has signed a four-year contract with the MLS outfit after an impressive first-half of the campaign saw him score 11 goals in 29 Championship appearances. The Ivorian international’s move across the Atlantic Ocean was signed off by all parties before Monday’s 11pm transfer deadline, with confirmation coming from the Riverside Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
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Hide AdHis £22.5m sale is the biggest in Middlesbrough’s history, eclipsing the £18m Wolverhampton Wanderers paid for winger Adama Traore back in 2018. It is also the biggest transfer fee ever paid by an MLS outfit.
Latte Lath has proven to be a thorn in Leeds’ side since their relegation from the Premier League, scoring four goals in three league meetings with the Whites. All of those efforts came last season, with the Boro frontman netting a brace in two goal-fests Daniel Farke’s side won 3-2 and 4-3. He did not find the net in this campaign’s 3-1 defeat at Elland Road.
The striker will join up with a host of well-known faces among most English football fans, the most notable being former Leeds midfielder Mateusz Klich who moved across from D.C United in December. Also joining this month was former Newcastle United winger Miguel Almiron.
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Hide AdBoro will now be without their top-scorer and talisman for the visit of Leeds to the Riverside Stadium on April 8 - the Whites’ final game against a current top-eight side before a favourable five-match run-in on paper. But Michael Carrick’s side did manage to get a replacement through the door before Monday’s deadline.
The play-off hopefuls, who currently sit in seventh and are behind West Brom only on goal difference, confirmed the six-month loan signing of Kelechi Iheanacho on deadline day. Leeds were fleetingly linked with a move for the former Leicester City man, although that was never likely to happen.
"We’re delighted to get Kelechi in,” Carrick said of his striker signing. “His quality is pretty obvious and he knows what it takes to be successful at this level from last year. He played in the Premier League for a number of years. He’s a quality, quality player and we’re really happy to have him.
“He’s not a replacement [for Latte Lath]. It’s never one player for one player. It’s a collective responsibility. Tommy [Conway] has scored a good number of goals when he’s been fit this season - good minutes per goal ratio. We’ve got enough throughout the frontline - creating goals, scoring goals. That’s not the issue of why we aren’t getting enough points.”
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Hide AdIheanacho was forced to watch from the sidelines on Monday night as Middlesbrough lost 3-2 at home to Sunderland, having not been registered in time to feature. Carrick’s men looked set for a hard-earned point before Ryan Giles’ comical late own-goal on 87 minutes.