MICHAEL Carrick admits he can't offer any guarantees that Emmanuel Latte Lath will still be a Middlesbrough player at the end of the month - but reiterated the club's desire to come out of the transfer window with a "stronger" squad.

Latte Lath has been the subject of much speculation over the course of recent weeks, plenty of which has been driven by his agent Matthias Veneroso.

Reports claiming Leicester City had made a move for the striker last week were wide of the mark and the £12m fee speculated would be nowhere near enough to bring Boro to the negotiating table.

Leeds United were also linked earlier this week but it's understood the Championship's leaders are not pushing to sign the striker this month. Leeds, according to sources close to the club, won't be spending major money this month, with Daniel Farke insisting it will be a quiet January.

Ipswich, who made a failed late summer move for Latte Lath, are in the market for a striker this month, while West Ham United have also been linked, but it's not clear whether this week's managerial change at the London Stadium would have any impact on their reported interest.

Boro are in a strong position when it comes to their top scorer, who still has two and a half years to run on his contract - with the club also having the option of an extra year. They don't want to sell this month, but there's also an acceptance - as there is at every Championship club - that every player has their price. Whether any of the interested clubs meet Boro's valuation of Latte Lath remains to be seen.

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Carrick said: “You never know what’s out there and what’s going to come - who’s going to offer what.

"That’s not just about Manu, that’s any player. It’s a transfer window and anyone can offer what they want. So for me to sit here and say I’m confident or I’m not confident [in keeping him], it doesn’t really matter or affect it because we’ve no idea what might come.

"We’re happy with the squad we’ve got and we want to keep that squad together as much as we can.

"We want to be stronger at the end of January, which is obvious. How confident I am, it doesn’t matter because we don’t know what’s out there.

"By the same token, we might be looking at other players and their current clubs aren’t yet aware, then things happen. We’ve just got to be calm. We know what we want it to look like and we’ll make good decisions when we need to."

Latte Lath put the dramatic end to the late summer window behind him and has again impressed in the first half of the season. And, amid the speculation, was on the scoresheet for Boro in last weekend's 1-1 draw with Cardiff City.

Carrick said: “Every player has different situations going on - be that their future, their family, their lives - and every player at this club has been absolutely fantastic. I can’t fault any of them for that.”