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Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool had been linked with transfer interest in Lecce man Patrick Dorgu.
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Manchester United are set to open talks with Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool target Patrick Dorgu ahead of a potential January transfer.
It appears that the Red Devils have outmuscled Spurs to becoming frontrunners to complete a deal for the Lecce full-back, just hours after Ruben Amorim labelled his squad the "worst team maybe in the history of Manchester United".
GiveMeSport had named the North London outfit as an interested party in a transfer for Dorgu earlier this month amid injuries to Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies this season. However, it had been claimed that the £30 million wanted by Lecce was more than Daniel Levy was willing to pay. Liverpool are another Premier League club said to be looking at the player amid question marks over the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Man Utd deliver Spurs and Liverpool transfer blow
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano took to social media platform X on Monday to provide an update on the transfer saga. He said: "Manchester United are set to open formal talks with Lecce for Patrick Dorgu, no bid has been sent so far. As exclusively revealed two weeks ago, he’s high on list as Kerkez and Nuno Mendes are still too expensive. Dorgu, 100% keen on move… Lecce want around €40m."
The 20-year-old Danish defender has turned heads with his Serie A performances, having began his career at the well-respected FC Nordsjaelland. The player is being viewed as a less expensive alternative to Bournemouth man Milos Kerkez and Paris Saint-Germain defender Nuno Mendes by Manchester United.
The Red Devils have had their own injury concerns this season with Luke Shaw missing most of 2024 due to hamstring and calf injuries. Tyrell Malacia has also been linked with a move away, highlighting the need to invest in the full-back position.
Spurs are in need of defensive reinforcements too, but are somewhat restricted when it comes to spending money having invested heavily last summer. The club splurged on Dominic Solanke, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert, with Anotinin Kinsky already arriving in January for £12.5 million.
Ange Postecoglou provides transfer update
In the 3-2 defeat to Everton on Sunday, Ange Postecoglou was without Micky Van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario and Udogie at the back. Speaking after the game, the Aussie refused to blame injuries for his side's poor run of form.
He said: "I have never played the victim. At the end of the day, I still believe the responsibility lies with me to get this right and that is where I sit with things. Whatever the circumstances are and it is fair to say it is a challenging situation for sure a lot of it is out of your control as a manager when you lose the amount of players we are at the moment.
“But I still have to steer us through and if I start worrying about myself and the cards I have been dealt with it is a dereliction of my duty and my responsibility. It is not how I see it. I see it as these are the cards I have been dealt and it is up to me to get us out of it and I have to be good enough to do that."
When asked about transfers, he added: "As I said during the week, I'm sure, like everybody, the club's well aware of our situation and they're doing their utmost. As far as I know at the moment, there's nothing imminent, but you know, I assume between now and we're getting to the end of the window that hopefully something comes up."