How Patrick Dorgu now has golden opportunity to seal his place at Man Utd long-term vs Man City

Patrick Dorgu comes into the Manchester derby with a very different challenge than what Manchester United had him doing last season in the fixture.

Michael Carrick’s first game in charge of Manchester United for a second spell came at home to Manchester City, and he absolutely blew Pep Guardiola’s side away.

United won 2-0, but it could have easily been 5-0 or more. Patrick Dorgu started on the left wing, scoring and having an all-around stellar performance that put him high in Carrick’s thinking as a winger, where he remained until recently.

But he has a very different task this weekend.

Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images

Patrick Dorgu can make the left-back role his own against Manchester City

Despite looking set for a career as a winger, Dorgu’s performance against Hull City saw him lose his place at left-wing to Marcus Rashford, and Carrick hasn’t looked back after this decision.

Dorgu didn’t start against Ipswich or Everton, before returning to the starting line-up against Sabah, only it came at left-back.

After debate over his best position, Dorgu shone at left-back in the Champions League clash, getting an assist and the performance might have just sealed his return to being a full-back option instead of further forward.

It was a display that saw all of Dorgu’s best traits put to great use and he could quite easily offer more than Luke Shaw in the position in terms of athleticism and physicality alone.

Shaw remains a doubt for the derby and in that case it could very well be Dorgu who gets the nod and a big performance could even see him become the successor to Shaw immediately.

United signed Dorgu as a full-back, and as a flying left-back he has all the tools to be sensational.

Of course, defensively there are questions. But for 10 months he’s been an attacker and so it will take time for Dorgu to settle back into a defensive role, but hopefully he does so quickly to pocket Phil Foden.

Dorgu can save Manchester United millions

Assuming Dorgu’s switch back into a full-back role goes as well as it looked against Sabah, United’s 2027 transfer plans might actually change drastically.

United’s presumed number one target would be Lewis Hall to come in and be the left-back long-term, replacing Shaw.

But with Hall thought to cost £100m next summer after signing a new contract at Newcastle, United could do without having to go for him and Dorgu being a success would do so.

Dorgu with Harry Amass as competition could theoretically be good enough for United to not worry about the position for a decade.

But it all starts in the derby, if Dorgu starts, and whether he has a performance that proves to Carrick that he should be the starter going forward.