Michael Carrick insists nothing has changed at Middlesbrough after Emmanuel Latte Lath's agent discussed a possible January transfer exit this week.

After a difficult start to the season, Latte Lath has refound his form in recent weeks and fired his eighth goal of the season on Saturday as Boro beat Millwall 1-0 to climb back into the Championship top six. Just like the summer, with promotion ambitions still a possibility, Boro remain keen to keep their best players at the club next month, having turned down a £20 million offer from Ipswich Town on transfer deadline day in the summer.

This week, however, Latte Lath's agent delivered a blow to Boro's hopes of keeping the Ivorian striker, despite telling Teesside Live recently that they wouldn't actively pursue a Boro exit. In an interview in Italy, Matthias Veneroso said he 'expects something to happen' in the January transfer window, with the same publication then claiming West Ham and Ipswich - both believed to want strikers next month - are interested.

READ MORE: Ayling, Engel, Morris and Forss - Middlesbrough injury update ahead of Plymouth Argyle

READ MORE: Middlesbrough January transfer 'ifs and buts' as Michael Carrick outlines his ambitions

Asked about the agent's comments though, Boro boss Carrick shrugged them off, saying: "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. He's shared it with Tommy and both have done pretty well.

"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."

In the summer, Boro owner Steve Gibson took a hardline stance towards selling key players, with no major departures from the club at that point. That was despite Ipswich's big offer for Latte Lath, as well as earlier enquiries for him, Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg.

With Boro a team in form of late, attention is only likely to increase in their prized assets, however, and, despite still having the same stance as the summer as they look to push in the second half of the season and challenge for a Premier League return, every player must have a price in the difficult financial climate that is the Championship.

On the club's stance to selling players and if it fills him with confidence, Carrick said: "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."