January 2025. Lecce’s Danish full-back Patrick Dorgu has numerous suitors.
All of them want to sign him at the end of the season since they don’t have funds in the winter transfer window. Clubs in Spain, England, Italy, and Germany make their pitches and ask him to wait. All except one: Manchester United.
From Carrington, director of football Jason Wilcox and head coach Ruben Amorim make their case for the club by video. It lands. They explain their ideas and how United want him to play. They’re attracted by Dorgu’s physical attributes. His price works, too, since another target, Geovany Quenda of Sporting, is considered too similar to Amad.
United had scouted Dorgu on video and in person. The feedback and data were positive, and the talks with Wilcox and Amorim made an impression on the player.
Dorgu himself wanted a change and was ready to move. Manchester and the Premier League sounded agreeable, even though United were suffering their worst season in 50 years. He signed on February 2 for £25million ($33.7m) and headed north, making his league and FA Cup debuts later that month.
It was a monumental rise for the 20-year-old. He grew up in Husum, near Copenhagen, the son of Nigerian parents who came to Denmark 25 years ago; his father wanted to study in Europe, and his mother joined him once her studies had finished in Nigeria.
Dorgu started playing football aged five with friends and his brothers in the yard, just having fun.
“Husum is not the richest area, but it’s quite OK,” Dorgu said last month in an interview with the United We Stand fanzine. “My family always try to do everything for my other siblings for us to be safe and to be good. I got to know a lot of friends from there. I still speak to them.”
He used to visit Nigeria annually as a child, but then football took over. At 12, Dorgu moved from a local club in Husum to AB, where he played for 18 months until he was spotted at a tournament by Nordsjælland and others.
Nordsjaelland has a reputation for developing young players, and it was only 20 minutes from Husum. Dorgu was already going to school as well in Nordsjaelland, so the move made sense, even if Dorgu was not an outstanding academic student.
In July 2022, at just 17, Dorgu moved to Lecce, a city in southern Italy. He’d been playing for Denmark’s under-19s in a game watched by a scout from Lecce, who then sent him a message on Instagram. Dorgu called his agent, who spoke to the scout. After months of talking, he was told that the move to Lecce was on… to play in their under-19s.
He spoke no Italian, but five or six of his team-mates spoke English. He was alone but lived in the academy, where cooking and cleaning were taken care of. It went well, they won their league and he was promoted to the first team for the 2023-24 season.
Dorgu cut his teeth with Lecce in Italy (Enrico Locci/Getty Images)
“I was lucky as well, to be honest,” said Dorgu. “The other left-back had an injury in the first game of the season, like 20 minutes into the game, and then I was thrown in and I did well. That made the coach trust me.”
It was a tough schooling. He was up against some genuine superstars — Inter’s Lautaro Martinez, Milan’s Rafael Leao and Lazio’s Pedro stood out for him — but he felt little pressure at a club where success was survival.
And he thrived. Players looked to get the ball to him quickly because of his pace and position high up the field.
Lecce stayed in Serie A with three games to spare, the first time the club had gone up and stayed up, finishing 14th. Dorgu made his Denmark debut in September 2024. The man who prefers to be called ‘Pat’ over Paddy and Patrick became a regular for Denmark, always on the left. He even scored in the decisive World Cup qualifying defeat to Scotland, a game he’s never watched back.
After moving to England, he was sent off in his league debut, where he was more annoyed that he gave the ball away for a goal than the red card, where he slipped. He feels his strengths are his power, strength, speed and duels, but acknowledges he needs to work on crossing, decision-making and his self-belief. He knows that his deliveries are key to United’s attacking success and that the football is far quicker in England, where you must play and think fast.
His club agree and have been happy with his recent form. He’s less robotic now, but United need him to be more consistent — as hard as that might be for a young player. They want him to improve his timing and decision-making on the pitch.
Dorgu has not enjoyed Manchester’s weather after a couple of years living in Italy, but he has settled in, becoming friends with Ayden Heaven, Kobbie Mainoo, Leny Yoro and Amad. Fellow Danes Rasmus Hojlund and Christian Eriksen were mates, too, plus Victor Lindelof, but all three have left the club.
His form suffered at the start of the season, with Dorgu conscious of the pressure at a club where you’re expected to win every game. In November, he was publicly criticised by Amorim, which did not go down well with the player or his team-mates, who closed ranks and offered support in private. It was appreciated, and there was a positive reaction.
Ruben Amorim’s public criticisms of Dorgu affected him (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
Dorgu has since played 90 minutes in the last seven United games, scoring twice and providing two assists. In those seven games, he’s played in five different positions, and excelled in the wins at home to Newcastle United and Manchester City, where his work off the ball and ability to follow instructions were noted. Both he and Amad delighted interim head coach Michael Carrick.
Under the previous interim, Darren Fletcher, and now Carrick, there has been more focus on individual work. Recent training sessions have finished with Dorgu doing crosses at the end.
Nobody knows whether he’ll get to a level where he can start every week in a title-winning side, but given his price and age, Dorgu’s signing is looking more justified with every passing week.
Running the numbers: What Dorgu offers
It was a fine moment to help decide Saturday’s Manchester derby.
Dorgu strained every sinew in his body to get ahead of Rico Lewis and meet a 76th-minute cross from Matheus Cunha. Dorgu’s effort was exceptional. His finish was inspired.
It summed up how Dorgu seems to be finding his feet at the club, with his recent form contrasting with comments made by Amorim to reporters in late November.
“He needs to be calmer playing the game,” said the then-United head coach. “You can feel the anxiety every time Patrick touches the ball. I can feel the anxiety.”
Amorim believed the pressure was hard for the 21-year-old at the start of his Premier League career, but he had faith he would improve. Dorgu’s play became increasingly important to United during the AFCON period, with Bryan Mbeumo, Amad, and Noussair Mazraoui all on duty with their countries.
The Denmark international was initially signed as a left-sided defensive option, but his willingness to get forward, or pop up on the opposite flank, has seen him take effect in a variety of positions.
Dorgu’s standout skills lie in his work rate and willingness to learn. Early scouting reports taken from his games at Lecce described him as having a rawness to certain aspects of his play, but recent weeks have seen development with the ball at his feet.
His crossing — which had been erratic at the start of 2025 — looks to have improved in this most recent period.
Dorgu is fond of a scooped pass directed towards the front or back post for the majority of his crosses. In the event he cannot get the lift on his delivery, he will opt for a drilled cutback towards the penalty spot.
His assist for one of Benjamin Sesko’s goals against Burnley demonstrated his straightforward approach to playing football. Dorgu opted to beat his opponent on the outside, first taking a heavy touch into space and backing his pace and endeavour to get after the ball. His cross towards the front post for Sesko was guided excellently for the centre-forward to hit first time.
Dorgu’s take-on ability in wider areas contrasts with the clever dribbling of Amad or the efficient ball manipulation of Mbeumo. Dorgu attacks his full-back as if it were 1997, beating defenders with a drop of the shoulder, or knocking the ball into space that he can chase.
Roughly hewn but hard to stop, Dorgu’s defensive effort will make him a valuable asset to Carrick, who wants this United side to retreat quickly into a compact 4-4-2 when defending. Last Saturday saw Dorgu make repeated recovery runs to disrupt City’s momentum and cut off more lucrative passing angles.
In the example below, Rodri picks out Phil Foden between the lines, but Dorgu is alert and sprints back from left midfield to close the space and win back possession.
Dorgu’s play rarely makes for highlights fodder, but he has made notable progress on the small details required for top-half Premier League football.
He is a player of maximum effort, if not maximum output. A player who has several quality footballing tools — and is getting better at using them.