Ineos have shown excellence in Patrick Dorgu transfer, Man Utd set to reap the rewards

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Manchester United’s signing of Patrick Dorgu shows how drastically things are improving under Ineos.

For years, Manchester United in the transfer market was a joke which saw other teams take advantage when they saw Richard Arnold or Ed Woodward come knocking for their players.

This saw the Red Devils often held ransom and forced to pay extortionate fees in order to secure their targets – with examples like spending £64m on Rasmus Hojlund and also a barely believable £86m on Antony jumping to mind.

It often felt like United would give teams a blank chequebook, which is one of the only possible explanations for some of these moves. When Ineos took charge, Sir Jim Ratcliffe pointed to transfer market failure as one area he expected to oversee huge improvement.

Quite quickly this has happened and now the signing of Patrick Dorgu promises to be the best example yet.

• READ: Who is Patrick Dorgu? All you need to know about the Man United player’s career, playing style, value and more

Ineos negotiate a bargain price for Patrick Dorgu

There has been interest in Dorgu for much of this season. However, due to his high valuation, Fabrizio Romano admitted United were unexpected to sign Dorgu, saying it would take something special.

When Dorgu became a credible option earlier this month, he had a valuation which was said to be £35m, a number which United were clearly not willing to risk or not able to risk considering PSR.

Instead, Ineos were locked in talks since last Monday to agree on a fee with Lecce which has ended up working wonders.

Dorgu is set to cost United just £24.7m initially, with any add-ons being hard to achieve, which is more than £10m knocked off Lecce’s initial asking price which had some fans in meltdown, as it would have been a pretty huge outlay.

£24.7m for a player of Dorgu’s potential generational quality is a bargain and then some. Ineos should be thrilled with the business and it shows Europe that the days of United being bullied in transfers are over.

This will see United head into negotiations next summer with confidence while selling clubs will know the precedent has been set.

• READ: Confirmed Manchester United transfer deals for January 2025, ins, outs, loan moves, deadline date

Manchester United must continue making deals like this one

Over the years pre-Ineos, United often tried to sign the ‘ready-made’ players who would be expected to join and be immediate stars – such as Angel Di Maria, Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Casemiro and Alexis Sanchez.

Most of these names were worth the money for a period, but ultimately every deal was looked back on as a huge mistake which only hindered United.

Under Ineos, stars do not seem to be on the agenda – but rather Sir Jim’s desire to sign the stars of tomorrow is being fulfilled with Leny Yoro also falling into that category.

Ayden Heaven is another United signing who could potentially turn out to be top-tier and will cost a minuscule fee. Next up, if Ineos want the best-in-class midfielder, there is no alternative to Chris Rigg from Sunderland who may be the reason United have passed on Sverre Nypan.

If this is the recruitment policy, Unied will undoubtedly benefit in the coming years.