@original-fat-bob.  Fingers crossed that this is just paper talk as he is not the solution to our current woes. 🤞😎

Middlesbrough see permanent Edmundson bid rejected

Centre-back Edmundson is under contract with Ipswich until the end of this season.

He has made 75 appearances for the Suffolk outfit after joining them from Rangers in 2021.

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Local paper, Ipswich Star, report on Boro bid:

https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/sport/24857356.ipswich-town-reject-middlesbrough-bid-george-edmundson/

Sky transfer centre have just reported the George Edmundson is expected to make his loan deal permanent before the window closes; hardly a scoop given Boro have already had their first offer declined and I suspect it’s just a case of finding a price acceptable to both clubs. 😎

Sky news reporting Newcastle are likely to accept £10M bid from MLS Atlanta for Miguel Almiron.  Does this mean they have switched attention from LL? 🤔🤞😎

@k-p-in-spain I don't think so as Almiron is more like a winger or midfielder - noy out and out striker and goalscorer.

Almiron came from Atlanta to Newcastle for € 24 million in 2019. He is now 30 year old. Up the Boro! 

Latest paper talk:

Atlanta Utd bid £15m for Palace striker Edouard

@k-p-in-spain

Does make you wonder if LL will play on Saturday even though MC said he will

@paulinboro. I do hope he does and that he prefers to hold out for an offer from a PL side which may or may not come. 😎

Posted by: @k-p-in-spain

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@paulinboro. I do hope he does and that he prefers to hold out for an offer from a PL side which may or may not come. 😎

At the end of the day "it is what it is"

Atlanta United reach verbal agreement with Middlesbrough on potential MLS record deal for Emmanuel Latte Lath, per sources.

Fee in region of $20m. Not done yet. Atlanta working to finalize personal terms. Details to sort. (Tom Bogert - GiveMeSport)

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Swansea City are eyeing up a move for Middlesbrough attacking midfielder Alex Gilbert (Football League World)

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Gazette reporting that Carrick is not sure if either Smith or Lenihan will play again this season - which will likely free up 2 more places in the 25-man squad to allow incoming players.

@werdermouth That’s a shame, particularly in the case of Lenihan, as I thought he had potential as team captain if he was able to maintain a level of consistent fitness.

Atlanta United reach verbal agreement with Middlesbrough on potential MLS record deal for Emmanuel Latte Lath, per sources.

Fee in region of $20m. Not done yet. Atlanta working to finalize personal terms. Details to sort. (Tom Bogert - GiveMeSport)

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@original-fat-bob 

If it's true, $20m (£16.4m) does appear on the lower side of Boro's valuation of Latte Lath - I'm sure there are a few PL clubs who would make an offer in that region rather than the £20-25m previously being touted.

Ryan Giles’ return to Middlesbrough is expected to be completed next week after extensive talks in recent days to finalise a deal.

Michael Carrick has been the principal driver of the move. (Baz Cooper - Hull Daily Mail)

(Giles is Not In Hull’s Squad For Their Lunchtime KO Against Millwall Today)

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@original-fat-bob.  I read some of these reports and unfortunately it didn’t do anything to lift my spirits. I hope he proves me wrong but I don’t see him as the answer to a longstanding problem area. ☹️😎

🚨 | Middlesbrough are one of a number of clubs that are keeping tabs on Rennes midfielder Glen Kamara.

[L’Équipe]

@original-fat-bob Glen Kamara would be a perfert player for Boro's midfield  while Morris or Howson are unfit.

This is what Teesside Live says about Kamara: https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/middlesbrough-already-told-target-glen-30819530

As said, he was born in Finland but came through the Arsenal Academy.

I have seen him playing in the midfield for our National Team for years. He is very good indeed. But I do not know if we will be able to pay the fee or salaries involved for the 29 old. I would love to see him in the Boro shirt. Long term, Morris could be better but Kamara is an upgrade on Howson and Barlaser. 

Up the Boro!

I have to believe, there might be a surprising signing  and departure , Boro don't usually leak anything that's going on .there  is a young man at Chelsea the got from Brazil name of Washington, lets see 

#Boro have made a bid worth around £5million plus add-ons for Plymouth forward Morgan Whittaker. (Alan Nixon, The Sun)

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Millwall are hoping to complete a permanent deal for Middlesbrough striker Josh Coburn.

The 22-year-old is currently on loan with the South Londoners.

And the South London Press understands that the Lions are keen to turn that into a full-time arrangement with Boro receptive about reaching an agreement.

Coburn has scored twice in seven appearances for Millwall.

The big forward has been unlucky with injuries since signing for the SE16 outfit and has been out since the start of December with a broken metatarsal.

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@original-fat-bob - I have very mixed feelings about this. Do I see him as a 20+ goals a season player for a team at the top end of The Championship? Do I see him as a 12-15 goals a season Premier League player? Maybe not but (1) it would be good to see what he can do if given a sustained period injury free and if he were to be given an extended run in the starting XI (he is, after all, only 22 years old) (2) It would be good to have a Plan B up front if things are not working out in a game with the existing set-up.

Moving Josh on has always been part of Kieron Scott's plan.  

It was very sad to witness the interview with Josh after our great win over Leeds in the Carabao Cup when it was clear that he did not wish to leave, but had effectively been hung out to dry by the the club in unattributed Gazette reports which provided granular details of an imminent transfer to Millwall: the likely fee, how it was to be paid, the possibility of sell-on clauses, the crazy idea that the fee ( £1m ?) far from being derisory would represent great value for us because it would be pure profit since Josh was an academy product ( By this logic, selling Hackney for a million would also represent great value). 

The justifications for the sale were familiar ones. We already have two front-line strikers. Josh is surplus to requirements. And if there are injuries…(everybody else on the planet knows it’s not a question of ‘if’ but when)… we have two more in reserve. Not Greenwood and Forss as per the previous season, but Forss and Burgzorg.

Meanwhile Carrick was telling a different story. According to the Gazette:

“Asked if Boro had received anything concrete on Coburn, Carrick said: “No. Josh is the same as everyone else from my perspective. There’s nothing and he’s one of us. He’s in a good place - he looks fit, he looks strong and he looks hungry to play more football and be dangerous.

"So there’s nothing from my point of view. Speculation is what it is. All sorts fly around about all sorts of players. That’s just something we learn to live with and not get too hyped up with.”

So the club was not speaking with one voice. And the paradox and sadness of that is that the care, courtesy and respect for his players implicit in Carrick’s words and that are so typical of the man were being contradicted elsewhere.

In fact it was a loan not a sale that went through because Millwall could not even find the small fee necessary. A sale always seemed on the cards, however, since, as with Watmore, Millwall are getting a good striker at a knock- down price simply because we wish to get them off our books.

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Sky news reporting that Atlanta close to signing Latte Lath:

Almiron to Atlanta - where we stand

Atlanta United are closing in on the signings of Miguel Almiron from Newcastle and Emmanuel Latte Lath from Middlesbrough. 

The deal to take midfielder Almiron from Newcastle is expected to be worth an initial £8m plus £3m add-ons. 

And the fee for striker Latte Lath is expected to be £18m, which would be an MLS record. 

Both of these players are set to take up a Designated Player spot and an international roster slot at the club.

The Designated Player rule in MLS allow for teams to sign up to three players whose salary exceeds the maximum cap. 

Atlanta have also made a £15m bid for Crystal Palace striker Odsonne Edouard, currently on loan at Leicester, but Lath is the preferred target for Atlanta.

The club can sign one of Edouard or Lath because they only have two Designated Player spots available - and the other will be taken up by Almiron.

Such deals for MLS clubs can take longer to do because there are additional layers of procedure required to finalise a transfer.

This is especially so when the deal involves signing a player that will take up a Designated Player spot.

In this instance, Atlanta had to seek permission from Charlotte FC for Almiron's MLS rights after they tried to sign him in the summer. 

In MLS, teams place a player on their discovery list and this prevents other interested parties within the league getting into a bidding war.

Any team can place a player on their discovery list if no one else has already, but have to be making legitimate attempts to said player.

Middlesbrough are closing in on the signing of non-league sensation Brayden Johnson from Eastbourne Borough FC, sources have told Football Insider.

Johnson, 18, has been earning rave reviews this season for National League South side Eastbourne and scouts from EFL clubs have been making regular checks on the midfielder.

@original-fat-bob 

A long shot, but I like the look of this young lad. Looks very comfortable on the ball and oozes class at the level at which he's playing, albeit at the sixth level of league football.

Fabrizio Romano signing from Plymouth for £6:5 m

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