The January transfer window is not even a week old and Middlesbrough already have two unwanted sagas on their hands.

With a good squad that is arguably underachieving, albeit still well within the promotion battle this season, January was always going to be a tough month in which consolidating as far as key players are concerned is every bit as important as any potential outgoings.

Long before the window opened, it was always appreciated that Ben Doak and Emmanuel Latte Lath were likely to be targeted this month after impressive starts to the campaign. Even still, the speed of which concrete offers in Doak's case and speculation in Latte Lath's have emerged is quite something.

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There's perhaps a hint of timely irony then that just 12 minutes into the first game since so much talking off the pitch about their futures, the pair combined to put Boro ahead against Cardiff City on Saturday. Emphasising their importance, Doak tore through the Cardiff defence with regularity as Boro's only real credible attacking threat in what ended up a frustrating draw. Latte Lath, meanwhile, didn't get many sights at goal, but did manage to reach double figures for the season with his early strike.

An interesting month now lies ahead in both cases and, unfortunately, in many respects - and certainly with Doak, Boro have little to no control over what lies ahead as far as their futures are concerned. No matter how important both are, there remains a very real possibility Boro lose both this month - and judging on the evidence against Cardiff, and indeed over the course of the season, that would be an almighty blow to Boro's top-six chances unless they were replaced well.

That Doak might leave this month was no real secret. His form had sparked interest from Premier League clubs and, with Liverpool having a recall clause inserted into the loan deal - something Boro were rather powerless to refuse given the fierce competition they faced to land him in the summer - there was always a possibility he could go.

It's not that anyone really believed the 19-year-old would be recalled to play a part at Liverpool this season. But given how well he's done in the Championship, from a Liverpool perspective without the Boro-tinted glasses on, there was a degree of understanding in the value of potentially recalling to loan him to a Premier League side to gain higher level experience.

What's most surprising about what's actually happened, however, is that it seems Liverpool are more keen to sell permanently this month, rather than loan him out. While impressed with his development at the Riverside and happy for him to stay here for the rest of the season, the Reds are said to be also willing to cash in on Doak - though their asking price is said to be double the £15 million bids they rejected from Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town this week. Given his potential, Liverpool being willing to offload permanently seems surprising, though it's perhaps another indictment of Premier League PSR rules, and getting around them with a deal that would likely also include a buy-back option.

Within all that though, there is hope for Boro. It's unfortunately completely out of their hands, but it remains to be seen whether Palace, Ipswich, or anyone else for that matter, is willing to pay as much as Liverpool want. And if they don't, it would appear that Liverpool are happy to leave him on Teesside until the end of the season.

As for Latte Lath, there's a considerably bigger chunk of control over his situation. He's a contracted Boro player after all. However, what they can't control is potential offers from Premier League clubs coming in and potentially unsettling the player - who understandably dreams of a life-changing move to the top-flight.

Latte Lath's importance grew even more so on Boxing Day when Tommy Conway limped off against Sheffield Wednesday. Doak's Scotland team-mate faces weeks on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, leaving Latte Lath the only natural senior striker who is fit right now.

After plenty of talk ahead of the window - including from his agent who said he expected something to happen this month - the early days of the window saw Ipswich and West Ham seemingly looking elsewhere and suddenly, from nowhere, Leicester City emerged as a team 'interested' in the Ivorian. However, the report named a price well below what Boro rejected in the summer. It was a non-starter from the off.

That said, interest in Latte Lath was always inevitable. Whether he remains a Boro player beyond this window rests on two things, ultimately. Firstly, will any interest develop into a concrete offer - not because Latte Lath isn't attracting plenty of interest, but simply because clubs know Boro won't be selling on the cheap. Secondly, if that interest does develop, will any club make Boro an offer that is ultimately too good to turn down?

As much as we'd all love Latte Lath to stay, Boro simply aren't in a financial position to be able to turn down offers northwards of £20-£25 million. And the flipside of that is, such a large fee would allow for some interesting reinvestment too. In an attempt to be as proactive as possible heading into the unknown that is a January transfer window, Boro's recruitment team are said to already have targets in mind, just in case any key players leave this month.

That said, disruptive to morale and also potentially rhythm as new players would have to arrive and bed into the side, a transfer window in which Boro manage to keep Doak and Latte Lath, even if it meant no new incoming signings, would be most welcome.