“Long time no see.”
That’s how Atlanta United president & CEO Garth Lagerwey began Wednesday’s press conference. Not even three weeks ago, the same group of reporters gathered in the same interview room at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to meet a designated player signed by the club.
This time, the press conference was truly an introduction. Emmanuel Latte Lath joined Lagerwey on stage, along with Chief Soccer Officer & Sporting Director Chris Henderson. Latte Lath, a center forward acquired from Middlesbrough FC, made headlines when he signed with Atlanta United on February 4 at a league-record transfer fee.
“We believe that signing him reflects our global ambition to become one of the bigger clubs in the world,” Lagerwey said.
The profile of Latte Lath is exactly what Atlanta United wants under the mentality of new head coach Ronny Deila. Deila is attack-minded, wants to play the ball forward and has at times this preseason described Atlanta United’s predilection for passing the ball back as “boring.” The head coach will be pleased with a player like Latte Lath – a young, fast goal scorer who likes running in behind defenders.
Henderson and the scouting department sought these qualities in their search for an attacker. Led by the club’s data scientist Arjun Balaraman, Latte Lath met many of the metrics such as production, speed, recoveries, created chances and success across multiple teams and multiple leagues.
Since the start of last season in the English Football Championship, Latte Lath ranked in the top six at his position in several categories including goals per 90 minutes (third) and post-shot expected goals per 90 (fourth).
“He’s a goal scorer, he’s proven it in multiple leagues,” Henderson said. “He’s going to help stretch teams with his speed and his finishing. We’re really excited to see how he’ll complement [Alexey] Miranchuk, Saba, Miggy and our midfielders.”
Latte Lath previously played in England for one of the top leagues in the world. He was getting good playing time there, making 67 appearances in all competitions for Middlesbrough. He finished his time there with 29 goals scored and ranked as one of the league leaders in goal scoring during the current 2024-25 season.
Middlesbrough was a good situation for the 26-year-old.
Atlanta United’s was better.
“I came here because I want to try to win something with Atlanta,” Latte Lath said. “I liked the project they told me.”
If he plays in Atlanta United’s home opener on Saturday against CF Montréal, it will mark the MLS debut for the Ivory Coast native. Latte Lath doesn’t mind admitting he knew little about MLS before being pursued by Atlanta. Once he started talking to Lagerwey, Henderson and head of international player recruitment Jonathan Spector, he began to see it as a real possibility.
Latte Lath will have a lot of eyes and expectations on him as we enter the 2025 MLS season. Already, he's on some players-to-watch lists. At the end of the day, Latte Lath is here for the same reason Henderson left a good situation at Inter Miami: to help Atlanta United win.
“I just need to play football, be focused and try to do the things every Saturday, every training,” Latte Lath said.
Wednesday marked his official introduction and was his first time speaking to reporters, but Latte Lath has been acclimating to his team already. He said the group will continue to get to know each other more each day. The forward joined the group in Florida for preseason and saw his first minutes in the preseason finale against FC Dallas, nearly slotting in a goal in his opening minutes.
The turnaround is quick for Latte Lath, who arrives while he was in the middle of another season at his previous club, and he represents the finish of a busy offseason for Atlanta United. The additions have put Atlanta United high on many early power rankings. Saturday’s home opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is full-venue and is expected to have a 2018 feel.
“[There’s] real buzz and real momentum building both inside our locker room and out in the city of Atlanta,” Lagerwey said. “We couldn’t be more excited that he chose us and that he is choosing to come to Atlanta United and be part of our fan base.”
