MICHAEL CARRICK is adamant “nothing has changed” regarding star man Emmanuel Latte Lath after the West Ham target’s agent stoked up transfer flames.
The striker, 25, saw a potential deadline day move to Premier League new boys Ipswich go up in smoke after Middlesbrough rejected a £20m offer.
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After 18 goals last term following his arrival from St Gallen, the Ivorian then endured a ten-game barren run this term before bouncing back with seven in his last 11 games.
That has reignited interest in Latte Lath, with West Ham now joining the Tractor Boys in plotting a January raid on the Riverside.
The star’s agent sparked more speculation by claiming that he “expects something to happen” in the upcoming window as he suggested the North East club could struggle to hang on to him.
However, Boro boss Carrick is adamant that his Championship promotion hopefuls are not looking to sell.
And he hopes that both Latte Lath and fellow forward Tommy Conway, who has also fired eight this term, will continue sharing the scoring burden.
He 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.
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“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.”
And Carrick added that the club’s strong stance in not cashing in back in August fills him with confidence that he can hang on to his top men over the coming weeks.
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Meanwhile, Ivan Toney is expected to join Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, according to reports.
Elsewhere, Newcastle are set to walk away from their long-running pursuit of Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.
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He added: “Of course it does, and you have to be realistic as well in terms of where we are and what other leagues and teams are out there. There’s a realism about it but certainly for us we’re pushing and striving to improve as a group.
“We want to keep getting better and improve as much as we can.
“You can see, especially of late, how he’s played [that he’s committed].
“With Manu and Tommy we have really good options. From our point of view, we’re cracking on as normal and we’re in a good place.”
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