Michael Carrick offered assurance that Middlesbrough are well prepared to be able to replace Emmanuel Latte Lath if, as expected, the striker leaves the club.

Boro have agreed a £22.5 million fee with MLS side Atlanta United and, as things stand, the expectation at Boro is that the Ivorian will be traveling Stateside shortly to complete his move. It is understood that he has already completed his medical and has agreed terms on a deal that would see him earn a huge wage hike.

With the transfer not yet completed, the Boro boss was non-commital as far as details of the striker’s impending exit were concerned. However, speaking more broadly about interest in Boro players in transfer windows, he insisted that the club were prepared to act in the final days of the window.

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Carrick said: “We’ll manage the next few days. It’s a transfer window and we understand what that means. There are two sides of the fence. We’ve got good players who other clubs are looking at, and we’re looking at other clubs’ players. That’s how it is. We’ve got to manage it and make the best of it.

“I totally get [supporter concern]. That’s the intrigue for supporters around any transfer window and the interest in what could happen and what could be possible. The football side of it, in any transfer window things can happen. All we can do is be prepared for anything and try to be ahead of the game for whatever scenario could be thrown at us.

“We have a clear idea of what we’re trying to do to benefit ourselves as much as possible. Within any transfer window, we always try to have an idea of the balance of the squad, what it looks like, where we’re strong and where we maybe a little bit light and also, what might happen that’s out of our control.

“There are various things that you need to prepare for. Sometimes it’s us being proactive and taking opportunities when we see them, other times it’s something unexpected but other times there are things we can pre-empt. We’ve got to be ready and it’s up to us to come out of any window in a stronger position, as a team and a club.”

The club came into the January transfer window knowing that losing Latte Lath was a real possibility after the late summer bid from Ipswich Town. There was an expectation that Premier League would be his destination, but the 26-year-old now looks set to move to the MLS, with no English top flight sides yet entering the race.

Boro’s expectations coming into the window though, as Carrick alluded to, meant that they were proactive in terms of their planning for such an eventuality. They sped them up in recent weeks when Atlanta tabled their initial offer, and a director at Slovan Bratislava confirmed that Boro had been in contact regarding Slovakian striker David Strelec.

He is believed to be one of three or four strikers Boro are now making a final decision on as they expect the Latte Lath transfer to go through without complication. Tottenham striker Will Lankshear, who has recently been linked with a loan move, is not on their shortlist, however, nor is former loanee Cameron Archer, who is expected to remain at Southampton despite Leeds United’s interest.

Elsewhere, Sky Sports report that Boro have turned down a bid for Hayden Hackney this week from Portuguese side Porto. The offer was said to be well below Boro’s valuation of the Teesside midfielder, who they don’t want to sell this month in any case.