Football Italia
·11 September 2024
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·11 September 2024
After an exciting week for Lecce teenager Patrick Dorgu, who scored on his national team debut and has also been linked with moves to Tottenham and Chelsea in the Premier League, here is everything you need to know about the promising 19-year-old.
Of Nigerian and Swedish descent, Dorgu was born in Copenhagen and has represented Denmark at every youth international level from U18s upwards. He had represented Nordsjælland at youth level, before moving to Lecce in 2022.
He was rewarded with his first call-up to Denmark’s senior national team this month for Nations League fixtures against Switzerland and Serbia, both resulting 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.
Despite playing most of his early matches with Lecce at left-back, he has begun featuring in a more advanced role over the last few weeks. He had started on the right-wing for Lecce’s 1-0 win over Cagliari prior to the international break, picking up his first Serie A win of the season, despite being sent off just before half-time.
Dorgu’s versatility is certainly part of the attraction. 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 has also proven himself capable on the right-wing as well.
For watchers of the Premier League, his positional development has shown similarities to that of an early Bukayo Saka at Arsenal.
Aside from his versatility, Dorgu also has explosive pace at his disposal, and is also beginning to develop a keen eye for goal with his move into a more attacking role.
He registered the first two Serie A goals of his career in the second half of the 2023-24 season, the first of which completed a shock 3-2 comeback against Fiorentina.
Lecce had been trailing 2-1 in the 90th minute, but two goals from Nikola Krstovic and Dorgu in the space of 90 seconds completed a surprising comeback against Vincenzo Italiano’s side.
Having extended his contract with Lecce in February 2023, Dorgu is currently tied to the club until the summer of 2027.
However, next summer could be the ideal time for Lecce to cash in on their emerging talent, as he will be heading into the final year of his contract the summer after that.