Atlanta United break MLS record to sign striker Emmanuel Latte Lath

Atlanta United announced the Splash signature of Speedy Ivory Coast Striker Emmanuel Latte Lat on Tuesday.

Atlanta reportedly paid an MLS record of $ 22 million transfer costs to Middlesbrough and broke the $ 16.2 million figure that FC Cincinnati spent in November to acquire Kevin Denkey of Belgium from the Cercle Brugge of Belgium.

Latte Lath, 26, is signed by the 2028 ml season with an option for 2029 and will take a designated player spot.

“He is an attacker with an excellent pace and good goals,” said Atlanta sports director Chris Henderson. “His ability to stretch the field will add another dimension to our attack.”

The transfer is the second important addition by Atlanta United this season outside the season, where Miguel Almirón returns to the club from Newcastle United for a reported reimbursement of around $ 10 million. Almirón previously played for Atlanta from their inaugural season in 2017 to 2019, during which time the club won the MLS Cup 2018.

Between the two deals, Atlanta United is now the MLS record costs that are paid for a player, as well as the initial reimbursement of the competition record – the transfer from Almirón to Newcastle United for a reported reimbursement of approximately $ 27 million in 2019. That was the largest Overall outgoing transfer in MLS history to very recent. The reimbursement of Aston Villa paid to the Chicago Fire for the Colombian striker Jhon Duran recently surpassed that thanks to Duran, Mark’s performance benchmarks hit Villa during his time and a sale percentage after his recent relocation of $ 79 million to Saudi Arabia.

Latte Lath scored 29 goals in 67 matches for Middlesbrough of 2023-25, including a team-high 11 goals during the current campaign. He launched his professional career at Atalanta in Italy as a 17-year-old in 2016.

“At the age of 26 he starts the first years of his career and shown all his target core in multiple competitions in Europe,” Henderson said.

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The five stripes open the regular season of 2025 ml on 22 February at home against CF Montreal.