The positives for Manchester United at Goodison Park pretty much began and ended with the point they prised away from Everton. As Ruben Amorim admitted after the game, this wasn't a performance to earn any plaudits.

But amongst the mediocrity, the newest member of this squad had a good game. Patrick Dorgu was a mid-season arrival from Lecce, and on Merseyside, he had his best game yet for United, building on the encouraging performance he produced at Tottenham a week earlier.

Dorgu was a £25million mid-season addition, and his freshness is a blessing. While his teammates have been dragged down by a disastrous season, the Dane doesn't carry the same baggage, and it is showing.

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In two games as a left wing-back, he has been bright and adventurous going forward. He has shown character to come into a side struggling for an identity as much as they lack in confidence and look at home. Dorgu was given a 45-minute debut as a right wing-back against Leicester City in the FA Cup, but he has looked far more assured on the left in the last two weeks, getting through 90 minutes against Spurs and Everton.

Amorim was vociferous in his defence of using the 20-year-old on the right, and he is correct to point out he has played there for Lecce. However, this is a United side lacking natural width, and Dorgu has been much better on the left, driving forward down that flank. He has been combative defensively and has shown the kind of ambition to attack that has been lacking from Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, his competitors for a wing-back role.

Over the past week, his performances have been a positive for United and Dorgu will now hope he can shine at Old Trafford after his false start against the Foxes. He is offering a reason for hope beyond some solid displays as well, as Amorim tries to shape this team into his own game.

The head coach doesn't currently have the players to make his 3-4-2-1 system work, and as a result it has looked ineffectual. The build-up play is slow, and the patterns of play too easy to defend against.

In backing Amorim, United are throwing their lot in with the 40-year-old and his ability to make a system he will never deviate from work. To achieve that, they will need to deliver a successful summer transfer window, with at least half a dozen players required to fit specific roles.

But the fact that Amorim's first foray into the market is shaping up to be a success - with the caveat that this is early days - should make United more comfortable ahead of the summer.

Dorgu was a player that wasn't really on the radar of supporters before the window. He was interesting Napoli but there wasn't a big market for his signature, and as a 20-year-old playing for one of Serie A's less glamorous sides, he was a low-key signing.

That he has hit the ground running and looks tailor-made for Amorim's system indicates that if the Portuguese can get the right players, he can bring about an improvement. It's been rare for players to arrive at Old Trafford and look like value signings in recent years, but Dorgu already fits that bill.

Plenty more will be required in the summer on what is set to be a limited transfer budget. Amorim probably needs another wing-back, definitely needs a striker, could do with more strength in both midfield positions, and may even target a goalkeeper. He will need to make what money he does have go far.

After the winter transfer window and the first signing of the Amorim era, there are reasons to believe he could do that.