Michael Carrick has finally broken his silence amidst a strong West Ham United rumour.
Former West Ham midfielder Michael Carrick has been a big hit since swapping his playing days for football management.
It has actually been claimed that Michael Carrick is a target for West Ham to replace Julen Lopetegui at the London Stadium, should the Spaniard be sacked.
It’s no surprise really is it – Carrick has worked wonders since taking over Middlesbrough in October 2022.
The 43-year-old is a keen exponent of a possession-based system, and has his side playing some truly wonderful stuff.
Middlesbrough Head Coach Michael Carrick is present during the Sky Bet Championship match between Middlesbrough and Millwall at the Riverside Stadi...
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West Ham and Carrick have been intrinsically linked over the past year or so, and now one of his key players is on the Hammers’ radar.
The Boro boss has now broken his silence on those links.
Michael Carrick responds directly to big West Ham rumour
The Middlesbrough manager is in the midst of a hugely exciting season on Teesside.
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His Boro team are pushing for promotion to the Premier League, whilst playing a really attractive brand of football.
A key part of their success this season has been striker Emmanuel Latte Lath, but West Ham are said to be keen to prise him away from Middlesbrough.
So could the striker really swap Teesside for East London in the January transfer window?
As quoted by the Sun, Carrick responded to the rumours that Latte Lath could be West Ham bound:
Michael Carrick, Manager of Middlesbrough, applauds the fans following the Sky Bet Championship match between Leeds United FC and Middlesbrough FC ...
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The Boro boss said, “Nothing has changed from our point of view.
“We’re in a good place. We have a good group, good squad and good team. Manu has played well when he’s played. I’m calm about that. We’re pretty happy with how things are.
“It [the speculation] has not come from us. That’s kind of it really.“
“We’re looking to be successful. We have a good squad and have a lot of options. It’s pretty clear where we stand.
“The speculation doesn’t really make a difference for us. We’re in control of a lot of things. There’s always decisions to be made.“
“But we’re happy with the squad we’ve got and we want to come out of January as strong, if not stronger than we’re going into it. We’ll do everything we can to do that.”
So as far as Carrick is concerned, it seems like Emmanuel Latte Lath will be staying at The Riverside Stadium beyond the end of the January transfer window, rather than joining West Ham.
That said, if the Hammers lodge a bid of £20 million or more for the 25-year-old, I’m sure that Carrick’s stance will change, or more specifically, the stance of the Middlesbrough owners.
Whether the West Ham owners are prepared to bid anything like that for the Ivorian remains to be seen though.
For what it’s worth, I do feel like Emmanuel Latte Lath would be perfect for us, so I do think he might just be worth the punt.
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