Chelsea quoted new price tag for in-demand defender as fresh approach tees up concrete January move

Chelsea have requested updated information on the costs and conditions for Patrick Dorgu – and TEAMtalk can now reveal what the new demands for the left-back are, as well as the competition the Blues may face for him.

The 19-year-old player, currently at Lecce, is attracting the interest of the Blues, thanks to his impressive performances in Serie A so far.

His current club, which values him at least €40 million (£33.8m), has opened discussions for a possible contract renewal to increase his salary and extend the expiry of the agreement – currently until 2027.

Despite this attempt to tie him even more to Lecce, it will not be easy for the Italian club to resist the attacks of interested foreign teams.

In addition to Chelsea, who could make a concrete move as early as January to get ahead of the competition, there are several top European clubs on his tracks.

Tottenham, for example, have been following him for over a year and have included him in the list of possible reinforcements for next season.

Competition increases for Chelsea fan Dorgu

More on the sidelines, but still informed about the player’s price, there are also Manchester United, Liverpool and, outside England, Atletico Madrid and some Italian and German clubs who consider the Danish player a potential target.

The fierce competition around him could be an important lever for Lecce to obtain high figures, close to the already fixed price of €40 million.

As told, Lecce are working to extend his contract, but are open to his departure if one of the interested teams puts an irresistible offer on the table.

And back in April, Dorgu confessed that Chelsea are his club, but that he wouldn’t close the door on other English sides.

“I have been a Chelsea fan for many years, so of course it’s clear that it is a dream,” he told Flashscore. “That’s not to say I can’t switch to other teams in the Premier League, but even if things aren’t going so well for them right now, they’re my team.”

Chelsea could reintegrate current left-back

For now, Chelsea will have to navigate the coming months with Marc Cucurella as their main left-back. Other players like Levi Colwill and Renato Veiga can deputise there too.

Head coach Enzo Maresca also hinted this week that Ben Chilwell could come back into the squad, despite it initially being planned for him to leave the club this summer.

“Ben now is the only one [of the exiled group] still here so probably now we’ll sit with him and find a solution,” Maresca said.

“Probably, he’s going to be back with us in training sessions. At the moment he’s not training with us.

“The reason he is training apart is because the idea was for him to leave. But because we didn’t find any solution, he’s here and probably he’s going to start to train with us. We need to decide that. If we decide that, he will be one of our players.”

The rise of Patrick Dorgu

With their eyes on the long term, Chelsea could launch a move for Dorgu when the opportunity next arises.

This time last year, Dorgu only had four senior appearances to his name after making his breakthrough at Lecce.

The Italian side originally acquired him from Nordsjaelland in his native country, where he was yet to make his first-team debut.

But once he was promoted into the Lecce first team, there were no second thoughts as he went on to record 34 appearances between Serie A and the Coppa Italia last season.

The teenager’s potential has long since attracted some clubs of serious stature, while he made his senior international debut for Denmark during the September break.

If he can earn Lecce €40m in the future, he would become the club’s record sale – practically doubling the benchmark set with Morten Hjulmand’s €19.5m move to Sporting CP in 2023 and rewarding their faith in his potential.

READ NEXT: The most expensive Chelsea signings of all time, featuring five Todd Boehly deals