By Dave Roberts, 31 January 2025
So we’re just hours, possibly minutes away from confirmation that Emmanuel Latte-Lath’s become both Boro’s record sale and Major League Soccer’s record signing.
Yet despite the record breaking move, the move itself is a contradiction in itself. The Ivorian wants Premier League football, yet he moves to the MLS – the league is seen as a stepping stone into Europe yet he moves in the opposite direction – the player is almost unknown in the US yet they break the bank to sign him. Interesting!
MLS legend and former New York Cosmos keeper Shep Messing says he can’t understand it, “He’s pretty much unknown. The average American knows Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.”
Talking to The Red Radio’s ‘Big Red Boro Pod’ show (Listen Here), Messing, who was team mate to Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in the old NASL days, says the move is a strange one, “I’m surprised, A lot of young South American players are saying I want to go to MLS because that’s a showcase window to get to Europe, that I understand. But to go the other way at this stage of his career, and give up the Premier League for MLS, I’m scratching my head about that one.”
General consensus suggests it’s more a money move rather than a career one. Just in the summer Ipswich Town came calling with a rumoured £20m bid. Now the money may have been well short of that, but temptation was there. Latte-Lath admitted to those in his close circles that he wanted to go but the club stood firm and last season’s top scorer accepted he’d need to get his head down and earn his move to England’s top flight via the Riverside. The goals continued to flow.
Money no longer appears to be a problem now in the land of the Salary Cap. Sport industry specialists Sportico ranks Atlanta United the 4th most valuable franchise in the MLS’, placing it just a goal kick behind the big guns, LAFC, Inter Miami and LA Galaxy with a value of $1.08bn.
The Georgia based outfit has just this week taken Miguel Almiron back from Newcastle United and were heavily linked with Benfica striker Arthur Cabral, so they have money, something not lost on Messing, “This league has made a slow evolution and then when Messi came it really lit the fire. Messi has turned this league upside down. The money is pouring in.
“Apple TV paid $2.5bn for the TV rights and Messi has really accelerated the revenue for everything, ticket sales, shirt sales and sponsorship are through the roof. And more than that Don Garber [MLS Commissioner] has loosened up the pocket book in a hundred different ways that’s allowing teams to spend money. The cash is there so every player iin the world is now a target. Cristiano Ronaldo, they’re in negotiations with him and Neymar, we hear every day he’s coming to Chicago. The money’s there.”
So it looks like ‘Deal Done’ for Latte-Lath. He leaves behind a goal-every-2-games record, but £20m up front for a player that turned it on in the last 18 months after joining for £4.5m from Atalanta is good business.
Fans will question the club’s ambition, overlooking the fact that bills need to be paid. Disappointing for a large chunk, yes – but the Riverside backroom staff has developed well over the last couple of years, and some of that money is sure to be invested to bring in a replacement. Whether it is Slovan Bratislava’s 23yr old goal-getter David Strelec, who has a similar return as Latte-Lath, we’ll have to see. But now clubs know Boro come with cash in the bank, negotiations may take that bit longer.