Who is Dorgu? Amorim’s first Man United signing and Lecce primato breaker

Patrick Dorgu of Lecce smiles during the Serie A match between Lecce and Verona at Stadio Via del Mare on October 29, 2024 in Lecce, Italy. (Photo by Maurizio Lagana/Getty Images)

Manchester United now have a deal in place to sign 20-year-old Denmark international Patrick Dorgu in a permanent, record-breaking deal from Lecce. Here is everything you need to know about the versatile wideman, his career so far and where he might play at Old Trafford. 

Man United agree deal to sign Dorgu from Lecce 

Reports on Tuesday evening confirmed that Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign Dorgu from Lecce in a deal worth around €35m including add-ons. 

According to reports from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Dorgu and his family were already packing up their belongings on Tuesday in anticipation of a big move to Manchester. 

Both Napoli and Juventus had also been linked with moves in the summer transfer window.

The deal will make Dorgu Lecce’s most expensive sale of all-time, comfortably surpassing the €19.5m fee the club received for the transfer of Morten Hjulmand to Sporting CP in the summer of 2023. 

Dorgu: Career so far – Nordsjaelland, Lecce and Denmark 

Of Nigerian descent, Dorgu was born in Copenhagen and has represented Denmark at every international level from U18s up to the senior side. He had represented Nordsjælland at youth level, before moving to Lecce in 2022. 

He has spent the entirety of his senior career to date in Serie A, making 53 appearances in Serie A over the last two seasons. 21 of them have come this term, as well as three league goals and an assist in 2024-25. 

The talented youngster was rewarded with his first call-up to Denmark’s senior national team in September for Nations League fixtures against Switzerland and Serbia, both of which resulted in 2-0 wins. 

Dorgu started both matches from the bench, but came on in both, and marked his first appearance with a tidy finish inside the area to hand Denmark a 1-0 lead over Switzerland with nine minutes of regular time left to play. 

He was also included in Denmark’s nations league squads in October and November. 

Dorgu: Positioning, Strengths and versatility 

Despite playing most of his early matches with Lecce at left-back, he has begun to show his positional versatility over the course of the 2024-25 season, having started a number of matches out on the right wing. 

Dorgu’s versatility is certainly part of why United see him as an ideal player for Ruben Amorim. He is capable of playing practically any position on the left-hand side, including left-back, wing-back and as part of the front three, and is now proven to be capable on the right as well. 

Though Lecce and Manchester United play with different systems – A 4-3-3 has been Marco Giampaolo’s go-to, while Amorim prefers a 3-4-2-1 – Dorgu could fit in nicely to United’s current line-up. 

Amorim has been lacking a left-sided wing-back for most of this season, with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia both struggling for fitness. Diogo Dlaot, and Noussair Mazraoui have both had to cover in that role, out of position. 

Dorgu would be a natural solution for United at left-wing-back, or on the right as well should that be required.

Given that he has played on the wing of a 4-3-3, he could also be used in a more advanced role at Old Trafford. Like Amad Diallo, he is also a left-footer, and could be used as a rotation option should the former Atalanta man need a rest at any point.