The agent of one reported Liverpool transfer target has said he’s expecting an offer from Anfield for his client, in whom he confirmed the Reds are ‘interested’.
Last month, Calciomercato reported that the Merseyside club were ready to swoop for Patrick Dorgu after a series of scouting missions, and the Lecce defender’s representative has now been discussing the 18-year-old in an interview with Sport Italia.
Kingsley Ogbodo stated: “I know Liverpool are interested, I’ve received this information and I know they have been watching him, they know who he is and are following him. Barcelona and City too, but as I’ve said in previous interviews, there’s no way he’s going away right now.
“The best advice I can give him, as his agent, is to stay in Lecce, yes. To push and develop what he has, at least for two seasons, before leaving. Obviously, any departure will depend on how he has grown. These are very big clubs in Europe, he’s probably not ready to go now, he needs more time to grow.”
When asked if any of those three clubs have submitted offers for Dorgu, the agent replied: “No, they haven’t made any offers. But Liverpool are very likely to make one. I don’t know if that will happen, but they are interested and they like the player.”
The Denmark youth international has yet to feature in a competitive first-team fixture for Lecce (Transfermarkt) but he made his mark in a recent friendly against Riva del Garda, scoring twice in an emphatic 10-0 win (Calcio Lecce).
Notwithstanding the paucity of the opposition, that brace from left-back clearly outlines Dorgu’s attacking potential, something we’ve seen in spades from Liverpool full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold in recent years.
The 18-year-old could be made from the same mould, although his complete lack of competitive senior action (Transfermarkt) means he’d still be some way off making a breakthrough at one of the Premier League’s foremost clubs.
While some agents might be chasing the money rather than prioritising the player, Ogbodo is being sensible in advising his client to continue his development at Lecce and potentially break into the first team there rather than prematurely moving to a club where he’d be nowhere near that level.
The Danish prospect isn’t quite ready yet for a move to Merseyside, although it could be in Liverpool’s best interests to continue tracking his progress over the next while to get a firmer judgement on whether he could be a candidate to star at Anfield in the longer-term.
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones