After a month-long saga, Emmanuel Latte Lath appears on the verge of a Middlesbrough exit. On Thursday, an agreement was finally reached with MLS side Atlanta United for the sale of Boro’s star striker. Having already completed his medical, there aren't expected to be any hiccups to stop the transfer now taking place.

A £22.5 million sale represents a record-fee received for Boro, beating the previous high set when selling Adama Traore to Wolves. It sees the club turnover a huge profit on the Ivorian, who was bought for a little over £4m just 18 months ago.

Make no mistake though, it’s a risk - a big one, you might say, given what's potentially at stake. Selling your top scorer, mid-season, while locked in an intense battle to reach the play-offs for a shot at promotion to the Premier League. With 29 goals since his arrival from Atalanta, replacing Latte Lath is not going to be easy.

READ MORE: Former Middlesbrough man Matthew Hoppe finds his first club since exit earlier this month

READ MORE: Middlesbrough act quick to complete transfer of Ben Doak's former Celtic team-mate

Put quite simply though, it’s a risk that Boro simply have to take. Ultimately, that’s the model, and that is dictated by the cruel financial landscape that is the Championship. Signing players like Latte Lath and developing them into better players to make profit is ultimately part of the plan to get Boro’s finances back on track. It can work when done right too. See Brentford and Brighton as the archetypes of such a model bringing success.

At the start of the month Boro released their financial accounts which covered the period through last season. They highlighted the importance of player trading, and the fact that money brought in on player sales will be invested back into the squad.

The club made an overall operating loss of over £12m over the year-long period. Over £1m a month… let that sink in. The accounts showed the club made £19m on player sales and despite the projected losses, and the fact Steve Gibson put in a further £13m to ensure the deficit wasn't even bigger, they then spent £18m on buying players. Within that £18m was the money spent on bringing Latte Lath to the club.

Fast forward to this season, such financial information won’t be available until next year. But what we can safely predict is that without this Latte Lath sale, Boro were highly in the red. Without any major sales in the summer, they continued investment in the squad with big purchases such as Aidan Morris and Tommy Conway. This month, as well as bringing Ryan Giles back on loan, adding Mark Travers until the end of the season, and turning George Edmundson’s loan into a permanent switch, they’ve also splashed an initial £5m on signing Morgan Whittaker. It’s not complicated maths to work out that a £22.5m offer just cannot be turned down.

We probably all have our own opinions on the move from the 26-year-old’s perspective. The MLS is an ever-growing league, and he’s about to earn life-changing money which he cannot be begrudged for. To his credit, throughout the whole saga, he’s never once downed tools or not given his everything for the Boro cause. Alas, at his age, and with his recent achievements, an MLS move feels underwhelming to say the least.

That’s ultimately not Boro’s concern though. Their focus quickly turns to finding an adequate replacement. Without one, Boro’s massive investment in their squad could be for nothing - in the short term at least.

Tommy Conway is nearing a return from injury and actually has a better goals-per-minute ratio than Latte Lath this season. Having the Scotland international back will be boost for Boro’s play-off aspirations, and might also take some pressure off whichever striker Boro do move for in the final days of the transfer window.

But Boro will still likely need whoever comes in to get amongst the goals too - and it’s what makes the mid-season sale of Latte Lath such a risk, albeit an understandable one to take. In that sense, the recruitment team have done more than enough to earn our trust.

Let’s not forget, it was the same recruitment team that found Latte Lath from relative obscurity in the first place. Struggling to break through in Italy, it was one good season on loan in Switzerland that prompted Boro to take the risk that has ultimately paid off so handsomely. In buys like Morgan Rogers, Rav van den Berg, Aidan Morris and many more, they’ve proven their eye for a gem. Let’s hope their extensive work to prepare for this moment pays off with another.