A former Manchester United scout has branded Patrick Dorgu a ‘dud’ signing and believes the club were wrong to let Alvaro Carreras leave.
Piotr Sadowski, who worked as a scout for seven years at United before his departure in August 2024, revealed in an interview with Przeglad Sportowy that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had jokingly asked him, ‘find me another Lewandowski’ during their time together at Old Trafford.
The Polish talent spotter believes United have been forced to change their transfer approach by buying ‘ready-made players’ such as Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo because Amorim now has fewer academy prospects to promote to the first-team squad.
When it was suggested that Dorgu – a £25m signing from Italian side Lecce in February – was an example of unsuccessful recruitment by Amorim, Sadowski replied: ‘A dud, I definitely agree.
‘And he was brought in for €30 million. Honestly, having recently worked at Blackburn Rovers and operating on a much lower transfer budget, I would have had no problem finding a few players at Dortmund’s level for Manchester United, but not for €30m, only up to a maximum of four.’
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Sadowski added: ‘They currently lack players who, after leaving the academy, would establish themselves in the first team and only then leave. Such as Marcus Rashford or Scott McTominay.
‘I disagree with both of them leaving United. Let’s also look at [Anthony] Elanga. He performed brilliantly after leaving for Nottingham Forest. These examples show that these players shouldn’t have left United. Something was disrupted in their development.’
Sadowski also believes that United made another blunder by allowing Carreras to join Benfica, initially on loan before the move was made permanent for €6m (£5.1m) last year.
The 22-year-old was then signed by Real Madrid for €50m (£42m) in the summer transfer window.
‘Take the example of Alvaro Carreras. He came to Manchester United when he was probably 16. A very hard-working and ambitious boy, he learned the language quickly. I know because I met him personally,’ Sadowski said.
‘Initially, his career path was quite good. He was loaned to Preston, received good reviews, and… United gave up on him, selling him to Benfica for a small fee.
‘Carreras is a truly top-class player. There’s a good chance he’ll become the best, or one of the best, left-backs in the world. He scored a beautiful goal recently against Valencia in La Liga. It was a huge mistake for United to let him go.
‘Looking at the youth player call-ups, United doesn’t have many internationals these days. Chelsea and Arsenal have significantly more international players. This certainly speaks to the effectiveness of their training.
‘But there’s another factor. We know from Poland, for example, that when a team is bottom of the table, there’s always a fear of making a bold bet on a homegrown player. Manchester United have been in crisis for several years now, desperate to return to the top, so they’re wary of bringing in youngsters.
‘Coach Ruben Amorim was supposed to be the one to do this, but the results haven’t been right, so he prefers to buy ready-made players. Whether he has anyone to choose from in the backroom is another matter.
‘In my opinion, Harry Amass is the only player currently capable of making it into the United first-team squad after returning from his loan spell [at Sheffield Wednesday]. The club’s biggest shortfall right now is the transfer players.’
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