Emmanuel Latte Lath's path to professional football winds through Abidjan street games, a tearful flight to Italy, and a career-defining stint in the north-east of England — arriving, for now, at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.

The Ivorian forward was six years old when he learned his family were relocating to Europe. Two years later, boarding a plane bound for Italy, the reality of the move hit home. "I started to realise when I was on the plane and I saw people different than me, I was a bit scared," the 27-year-old tells BBC Sport.

A father, a new life, and two childhoods

The move reunited Latte Lath with his father, who had left Ivory Coast years earlier in search of a better life. Their relationship had been limited to difficult phone calls across continents, and seeing him again felt, to the young striker, like starting over entirely.

"When I saw him, it was kind of a new life, new motivation to stay close to my father, and then everything started again. It looks like I had two lives," he says.

What he missed most from his first life was the football — raw, unorganised, and utterly free. He and five friends would form a team and travel to face opponents from other neighbourhoods, playing by no rules other than their own fierce competitiveness.

"It was just funny moments, enjoying football there, and it was quite competitive because it was almost every time finishing in some fights, so it was street rules. I was one of the most competitive," he recalls.

Italy, Atalanta, and a goal against Juventus

Latte Lath had never worn boots or played for an official team before arriving in Italy. The language barrier was steep, but a supportive figure helped him integrate. He joined Atalanta's prestigious academy in 2015, and by 2017 he was scoring against Juventus in the Coppa Italia in just his third appearance for La Dea.

"It's unbelievable, it's unforgettable. The emotion I had there, it's still the same when I'm thinking about it now," he says. It would be both his only goal for Atalanta and his last competitive appearance for the club.

What followed was five years of loan moves across eight clubs — a familiar fate for young players trying to break into Italian football's rigid, tactical structure. "Italian football has always been one of the difficult football environments because it's a lot of tactics, a lot of rules," Latte Lath explains. "So it doesn't let you express yourself."

Carrick's calm and the Championship breakthrough

A prolific spell with Swiss club St. Gallen opened the door to Middlesbrough in the Championship in 2023, where head coach Michael Carrick proved a transformative influence.

"I found a good coach and a good person. It gave me straight away confidence," Latte Lath says. "He was a calm person, a calm coach, maybe sometimes too much, but it was needed for us. He knew always when and what he should say to you in the difficult moment or in the good moment."

That confidence translated into 29 goals in 67 games, earning him a move to Atlanta United as the most expensive signing in Major League Soccer history at the time. His stint in America, however, fell short of expectations, and last summer he returned to Europe on loan to Union Berlin.

Finding a home in Berlin

The German capital has made an immediate impression. The passion of Die Eisernen supporters — famous across Europe for their intense matchday culture — has energised him.

"I arrived here and I am surprised because the fans' passion is crazy. This is something new for me. It gives me an extra muscle, another power to do well," he says.

For a man who has navigated so many different cultures and countries across his lifetime, Berlin feels like a natural fit. "I love different cultures, and you can find different cultures and people. I think I can fit in because I grew up with different friends and cultures."