Middlesbrough FC should target league-leading individual if Latte Lath leaves | OneFootball

Boro could look to Adams Park should they be in need of an Emmanuel Latte Lath replacement this month...

Middlesbrough will enter the market to sign a striker if they decide to sell Ivory Coast international Emmanuel Latte Lath this month amid growing interest in Boro's number nine.

The Northern Echo report that there is interest in the 26-year-old from multiple Premier League and overseas clubs, whilst they also state that Middlesbrough will sign a replacement for their prolific centre-forward if the club do cash-in.

Boro have seen their resolve tested on Latte Lath for the first time this month in recent days, as MLS side Atlanta United launched a bid that is understood to have been worth £18m up-front, with add-ons taking the deal to a potential value of £20m.

It remains to be seen whether the Teessiders will wait that offer out in an attempt to ignite a bidding war for their in-demand striker, but if he is to exit the Riverside Stadium in the coming days, then Boro could look to League One for a centre-forward who is rapidly making a name for himself.

Middlesbrough should consider Wycombe Wanderers star Richard Kone as potential Latte Lath replacement

Wycombe Wanderers striker Richard Kone has been in sparkling form in-front of goal so far this season, scoring 13 times in 25 League One appearances for the Chairboys.

The 21-year-old has enjoyed a remarkable rise in his career in recent times, having first arrived in the United Kingdom in 2019 to play in the Homeless World Cup after having gone through a difficult period of his life back in his native Ivory Coast.

He would soon join non-league side Athletic Newham, formerly known as Lopes Tavares, and between 2019 to 2024 would score over 100 goals for the Essex Senior League side.

Come January 2024, and after a successful trial with the club, Wycombe Wanderers would hand him his big break in professional football by handing him his first contract, and they've been reaping the rewards ever since.

Four goals and four assists in 21 total appearances during the second half of the 2023/24 season was a sign of things to come, but the first half of the 2024/25 season has seen Kone blossom into one of the biggest and most rapidly developing talents in the EFL.

As such, Wycombe signed him up to a contract extension in November 2024, the length of which has not been disclosed.

That doesn't appear to have put off interested parties, however, as Football League World exclusively revealed in December 2024 that Luton Town are considering a January move for the striker - something which could end up accelerating with Wanderers boss Matt Bloomfield heading to Kenilworth Road to replace Rob Edwards.

Richard Kone would tick a lot of boxes for Middlesbrough if Latte Lath goes

Under the stewardship of Carrick and head of football Kieran Scott, Middlesbrough have nurtured a recruitment philosophy that has seen put a focus on targeting talented young players, who they can develop and later sell-on for a larger fee.

Latte Lath has been one such example of that, as are the likes of Morgan Rogers, Rav van den Berg, Aidan Morris and Micah Hamilton respectively.

As such, Kone would surely be the type of player to fit the profile that Middlesbrough will be looking for in potential signings. He's young, prolific, a player with obvious top-level potential, and his style of play is similar to that of Latte Lath's.

With Boro having splashed £5m on Bristol City striker Tommy Conway in the summer, the Scottish international has shown that he can be Middlesbrough's centre-forward of the future. It was a deal that always had the feel of being the succession plan to Latte Lath.

Therefore, shelling out a big-money fee on his replacement not only goes against the club's recruitment philosophy, but it also may not make sense from a squad depth perspective, as Conway has shown he can score the goals required to lead the line for a club looking for Premier League promotion.

It would likely take a sizeable fee to prize Kone away from Adams Park this month, but it with clubs such as Luton Town, Swansea City and a number of other clubs rumoured to be interested in him, that would suggest it wouldn't be a fee that would break the Boro bank.