£18 Million Bid On The Table For Hammers Target

Whether the reported interest from West Ham United in Middlesboro’ striker Emmanuel Latte Lath is fact, or fiction, what is clear is that the Championship frontman is in demand. He has been linked several times with Leicester as well as with interest from the Hammers. Clearly The Irons need a frontman in the January window but as far as Latte Lath is concerned, they’ll need to get their skates on.

Sky Sports report that Latte Lath has now been the subject of a formal bid but not from within the Premier League: The confirmed £18 million offer is from US Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit Atalanta United.

However, as it stands the bid  is unlikely to appeal to either Middlesboro’ as they try to keep up their promotion push, or indeed to the player who will have Premier League ambitions for both his career and his bank balance.

Whether West Ham or anybody else is likely to match the reported £25m asking price that was being discussed in December will depend on how desperate clubs are to take a punt on the Ivorian.

Leicester did try their luck at £20 million in the summer when it was claimed claimed in December that “the Ivorian is too good for the Championship, he’s proven that”. So it remains to see whether there is a deal to be struck this January.

West Ham are certainly desperate enough – but are there better options for £25 million? Can’t see many just at the moment. Maybe a loan with an option to buy at £25 million but that isn’t likely to float Middlesboro’s boat.

As Graham Potter confirmed in his own press conference ahead of the Fulham game, when addressing the Striker issue just this afternoon: “There’s certainly a logical rationale to do something” – which I guess is ‘watch this space’ by other words.