Carrick Considers Dorgu as Manchester United's New Left-Back Solution
Michael Carrick is weighing up a new role for Patrick Dorgu, hinting the Dane could solve Manchester United’s growing problem at left-back after the transfer window closed without reinforcements.
United failed with late moves for Alejandro Balde and Rayan Ait-Nouri on deadline day, leaving Luke Shaw as the only recognised left-back in the squad. Behind him? A patchwork of possibilities. Dorgu sits near the front of that queue, alongside Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot.
Carrick’s view of the 21-year-old has shifted subtly but significantly.
“He can certainly play there. He has done, without doubt,” Carrick said when asked about Dorgu at left-back. “I’m not sitting here saying he can’t do that. It’s just the way we’ve been since I’ve been here.”
Dorgu has been a flexible piece in every dressing room he has walked into. Under Ruben Amorim he operated as a wing-back. For Carrick so far, he has only been used on the wing. For Denmark, he has even played off the right, scoring a superb goal from that side during the June internationals.
But it was at Lecce, in Serie A, where he really learned the left-back craft. United paid £25million to bring him from Italy in January 2025, in no small part because of that versatility.
He has started four times under Carrick, but his progress stalled last season due to a hamstring injury that kept him out for a large spell. He began this campaign on the wing at Hull City on the opening day, then dropped to the bench for the win over Ipswich.
That absence has shaped how Carrick now talks about him.
“He actually has been injured, unfortunately, for some time,” the United manager said. “You could almost argue that he played three or four times for us last season, so for me, he’s almost like a new player, you know, to have, and it’s almost like a new signing in some ways because he’s added so much to the group.”
The numbers in wide areas tell their own story. United are stacked with wingers. Dorgu has impressed on the left for Carrick, showing direct running and energy, and he has already proved he can flip sides and influence games from the right for his country.
The full-back slots are a different picture entirely. Shaw stands alone as the natural option on the left. That imbalance may force Carrick’s hand as the season wears on.
“He’s played off the right for Denmark, scored a great goal in the summer playing off the right in a forward position,” Carrick said. “He can play left-back. He’s that type where he can do a number of things. I’m certainly not saying he can’t do that at all.
“It’s something he can, we just haven’t had to explore that. At some point, we might have to, at some point he might do that. He can do that, absolutely no problem. There are times in training when he does it.
“And then he’s only young, being such a young age and having the attributes that he’s got, we’ve just got to keep trying to get the most out of him.”
The equation is simple. United are short at full-back and rich in wingers. Dorgu, still only 21, sits right at the intersection of those two realities. Carrick may soon find out whether his “new signing” can also become his new left-back.
