Manchester United’s move for Patrick Dorgu was one of the more covered moves of the January window.
While there are question marks about the final price tag for the player, there is no doubt about the Denmark international’s high potential as a talent.
A host of clubs were interested in signing him. Some weeks ago, there was an insistence in the Italian press that Napoli wanted to sign him and send him back on loan at Lecce.
Lecce official Sticchi Damiani has now spoken about Dorgu’s sale to Manchester United. He revealed that while the Italian side only wanted to let the talent leave in the summer, the Red Devils’ insistent attempts paid off.
He said, as relayed by PianetaLecce: “When Manchester’s interest began and was officially expressed both to us and to the boy’s agents, we immediately gave a response, in writing and in person, which was the one I reiterated: the club did not want any big transfers in January.”
Damiani also stated that Lecce formally wrote to Manchester United about their stance.
“On January 17th, 2025, we wrote to Manchester [United] that the January transfer operation was not of interest to us. We are not talking about figures, but because this is the club’s policy.”
The director revealed that the formal letter to the Old Trafford club didn’t have an impact and Ruben Amorim’s side responded with greater force.
“Perhaps this clear response made Manchester [United] imagine that this player was of particular value, but we responded without strategy, wanting to remain consistent.
“Paradoxically, Manchester, instead of fading or stopping, relaunched above all with the player and subsequently with us.”
Further, he said: “There was a sort of ultimatum, now or never, also giving this message to Dorgu.
“The situation led us to think that, from an element of coherence, digging in our heels would have become stupid and would have done damage to a club that has become sustainable.”
Dorgu won the Under-19s Serie A with Lecce’s Primavera side and has shown a lot of promise since graduating to their first team.
He also partly fixes the problematic wing-back position at Manchester United and offers a lot of versatility.
