Patrick Dorgu: Why Liverpool, Barcelona and Manchester City are tracking Lecce left-back

The son of Nigerian parents but born and raised in Denmark, Dorgu is a product of the excellent work being done at under-age level by FC Nordsjaelland, who were formally taken over by a group led by Right to Dream academy owner Tom Vernon in 2016.

Under Vernon's leadership, the Superliga side have become synonymous with developing young talent. In the last five years alone, FCN have made more than €50m (£44m/$53m) by selling homegrown players.

However, Dorgu was snapped up by Lecce for just €200,000 (£175,000/$210,000) - and it quickly became clear that Corvino had pulled off another bargain buy. In his very first season in Italy, Dorgu played a pivotal role in his new club winning a first Primavera (Under-19s) league title for 19 years, scoring four times in 33 appearances.

Realising that they had a real gem on their hands, Lecce promptly extended Dorgu's contract until 2027 amid reports that he was already receiving admiring glances from elsewhere in Europe.

Senior team coach Roberto D'Aversa also added the teenager to his first-team squad during the summer and Dorgu impressed in a number of pre-season friendlies.

Dorgu effectively began the 2023-24 campaign as understudy to first-choice left-back Antonino Gallo. However, the latter was forced off just 15 minutes into Lecce's season-opener, a Coppa Italia first-round clash with Como at the Stadio Via del mare.

Dorgu took his unexpected chance to shine with aplomb, not only defending diligently throughout but also teeing up Pontus Almqvist for the game's only goal. The following week, he made his first start in Serie A, against Lazio, and impressed again as Lecce pulled off a shock 2-1 win.

The more experienced Gallo has since reclaimed his spot in D'Aversa's starting line-up but Dorgu has featured in all eight of Lecce's league games, and even played all 90 minutes of their 1-0 loss to Juventus at the tail end of September.

D'Aversa is in no doubt that Dorgu has the talent to excel at the very highest level, but is wisely reluctant to ask too much of him at this fledgling stage of his career.

"If I picked him against Lazio, it means that I believe in him. His qualities are evident," D'Aversa told reporters. "But now we must give him time to grow and to make mistakes."

As well as Dorgu, Jeppe Corfitzen was added to the Lecce squad during the summer but he is not seeing anything like the same game time as his compatriot and flat-mate, because he is just not as physically well-developed. Dorgu already has the strength and build of a senior player.

However, he's also more advanced, technically, than many of his peers. He reads the game well, has good vision and is highly adept at using his dribbling skills and crossing ability to hurt opponents.

With that in mind, it won't come as a shocker to learn that Dorgu has occasionally been used as a winger during his young career. In fact, he scored a sensational solo goal against Cesena last year that any attacker would have been proud of, with Dorgu skipping past four players before firing low into the net with his trusty left foot.

Given his tender age, Dorgu naturally still has a lot to learn. One can see the joy he gets from bombing down the left flank but it's clear that improvements will have to be made from a defensive perspective, particularly in terms of knowing when to sit, and when to attack.

However, he's well aware of his flaws. We're talking about a very smart kid here, one that is renowned for being as intelligent off the field as he is on it. According to reports in both Denmark and Italy, this is not an aspiring professional who has ever neglected his studies. Consequently, hopes are high that he only has the talent but the level-headed temperament to go far in the game.

In Italy, comparisons are already been drawn with Destiny Udogie, who joined Tottenham during the summer after two tremendous seasons at Udinese. Just like Dorgu, Udogie is a prodigiously talented left-back who loves nothing better than getting forward.

It might be asking a bit too much of Dorgu to progress as rapidly in the professional ranks as Udogie, who is already an Italy international at 20 years of age, but the similarities are obvious: both are fast, strong, skilful, fearless and play the game with tremendous determination.

In that sense, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise to see Dorgu making a move to a top team in England in a couple of years...

Despite all of the transfer talk, and a very public admission that he would one day love to play for Chelsea, the team he has supported since he was a child, Dorgu's sole objective right now is nailing down a regular place in the Lecce line-up.

According to his agent, Kingsley Obodo, Liverpool already tried to sign Dorgu during the summer but he advised his client against moving to Anfield, as the Reds were only offering him a spot in their Under-23s squad.

"That's not what we're looking for right now," Obodo told bold.dk. "We focus on his career, his development and playing time. Liverpool are obviously not the only club following him either. There are many clubs here in England who are keeping an eye on him.

"Manchester City kept an eye on him when he played against England for the Under-19s at Hobro in Denmark. The Lecce scout also told me that Barcelona are also monitoring Patrick, because he is a huge talent.

"But we would like him to stay a little longer in Lecce, two more seasons to mature and gain experience. He will move to a bigger club only when we deem him ready."

At his current rate of progression, that might not take too long.