Federico Coppitelli was the first “cultivator” of Patrick Dorgu. In 2022/2023, the Dane’s offensive flurries contributed to the multiethnic Lecce Primavera’s historic Scudetto. “Lecce had a great ability in scouting Patrick,” the coach recounts. He was in Primavera, he did not train often with the first team, yet director Corvino promoted him to the 22 among the big boys, and once he had his chance, he was right. In Lecce, a strong player does not go on loan for three years, but is put in.”
Coppitelli continued, “It was very good Fabio Piluso, the Giallorossi’s chief scout, who went to see a tournament where Denmark Under-18 was playing and he was the only player on the team without a professional contract. I remember he picked him up and when he arrived I said, ‘I had Singo at Torino and he looks like that level there.’ And in fact he made it to A, I’m happy for Patrick because he has shown that he can evolve in other roles as well, he’s an unusual footballer and he has to be good at making sure that so many aspects of his character, which to this day are qualities, remain. He is a calm and serene boy, he used to tell me ‘Whatever’ in English (“Yes come on, okay,” ed.), and this way of being allowed him to make his debut in A against Felipe Anderson without any fuss. He has to keep his ambition high. He has everything for the leap forward.”
The article Coppitelli recounts the first Dorgu in Lecce: “An out-of-the-ordinary footballer, but…” comes from Calcio Lecce.
