Conte shocks Chelsea with €30m bid for the ‘new Hakimi’

Napoli are willing to offer €30 million for Patrick Dorgu in January to beat the competition to his signature, according to Italian media.

The 20-year-old was crowned Denmark’s Young Player of the Year on Monday and continues to make headlines in Italy. The versatile Lecce winger is impressing in Serie A on a weekly basis and has been doing so for over a year.

Signed in 2023, Dorgu has gone from strength to strength at Lecce and was already linked with a transfer in the summer. The boyhood Chelsea fan would ultimately be disappointed, however, as the Blues and Tottenham were priced out of a transfer by his side demanding €35m-€40m.

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Rather than sulking, he has developed even further since the summer and was recently rewarded with a new long-term contract. Despite this, it seems that Dorgu won’t stay with Lecce for much longer. On Monday, Fabrizio Romano revealed that the Dane is ‘expected to move’ in 2025.

Napoli get serious for Dorgu

Gazzetta dello Sport now provides an update on his situation, claiming that rather than Chelsea, it is actually Napoli who are getting serious over the potential signing of Dorgu.

It is well-known, of course, that Antonio Conte is an admirer of Dorgu. After his Napoli side beat Lecce earlier this season, the coach made a beeline straight for Dorgu to talk to him post-match.

The above-mentioned report states that Napoli are stepping up their pursuit of the winger. It is claimed that the 2023 Serie A champions are planning to make a €30 million January bid but that they would leave Dorgu on loan at Lecce until the end of the season to sweeten the deal.

Napoli are determined to build a squad that can not only challenge for Serie A but also be competitive in the Champions League and to achieve that they feel that they need two high-quality players per position.

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Dorgu, due to his young age, proven quality and potential sell-on value, is viewed as an ideal target and Napoli are trying to wrap a deal up quickly. A problem is that Lecce are so far still sticking to their €40m valuation.

“In short,” the outlet writes, “Napoli are serious and Dorgu is flattered by the interest of the blue club, where he could continue his growth path under the guidance of a master tactician like Conte… Dorgu is not the type to feel pressure and in Conte’s hands, he can become a new [Achraf] Hakimi.”