Charlton Athletic see £1.5m bid rejected by Leyton Orient for ex Man Utd man

Charlton Athletic have seen a £1.5 million bid for Leyton Orient midfielder Ethan Galbraith rejected as Nathan Jones looks to build his team for the upcoming Championship campaign.

The Addicks beat their London rivals Orient in the League One play-off final last season and were clearly impressed by one of the O’s stars during that fixture. Galbraith, who is a key player under Richie Wellens at Orient, played 90 minutes in the 1-0 defeat at Wembley Stadium.

The Northern Ireland international played 51 times across all competitions for Leyton Orient last season, scoring six goals and picking up eight assists. He played a variety of positions, across midfield and even at right-back.

Charlton Athletic bid for Leyton Orient midfielder

That versatility would be a big coup for Charlton Athletic, who have seen full-back Thierry Small leave the club on the end of his contract to join second tier rivals Preston North Ends. The Standard carries reports of the rejected £1.5 million bid for Galbraith, adding that Leyton Orient are ‘reluctant’ to lose any key players as they push for promotion next season.

The O’s are also said to be bracing for more offers for Galbraith, who is a product of the Manchester United academy. The midfielder worked his way up the ranks at Old Trafford from 2017 before being released in 2023 and moving to Orient.

Galbraith did make one appearance for the Manchester United first team, afforded a two minute cameo in a Europa League meeting with FC Astana in 2019. Leyton Orient manager Wellens has tipped the player to progress through the leagues and eventually back to a Premier League side. Speaking this season, he said: “There is no doubt in my mind that Ethan Galbraith is a Premier League player.”

Ethan Galbraith destined for Premier League

Galbraith himself has played down those expectations, keeping his feet on the floor. He said: “It’s obviously nice. But at the minute I don’t feel I’m quite there. As a footballer you strive to get as far as you can, so if I do manage to get there in the future it will be unbelievable. For now I’m just focused on the here and now.”

Nathan Jones has spoken of his determination to strengthen his squad ahead of the Championship campaign, looking up the leagues rather than planning to simply fight and avoid a drop back down to League One. After beating Leyton Orient in the League One play-off final, he said: “Absolutely. I didn’t drop to League One to become a League One manager, I dropped to League One to manage Charlton and I believe with a fair wind, God’s will and a hell of a lot of work we can start to build something.

“We’ve had a really meteoric rise from 19th in League One to getting promoted but first and foremost we had to finish 4th in the league. That took an extra 31 points from what we had last year, 10 wins and a draw, that’s a big shift in terms of everything with clean sheets and the structure we built. We’ve earned the right now to be a Championship football club. Now the work starts tenfold because we go into an unforgiving environment. We land on a different planet and we have to be competitive.”

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