Opening up global opportunities

Leyton Orient’s 2024/25 season proved a landmark one. Finishing sixth in League One, their best result since 2013/14, they also reached the play-off final.

Central to that success was Orient’s recruitment, as they cleverly utilised the loan market to bring extra quality from Premier League and Championship talents and compete against sides with much bigger budgets. The standout signing in this category was Charlie Kelman.

Kelman, a forward who joined on loan from Queens Park Rangers, had previously been on loan with the O’s in 2022/23, returned and hit 23 league goals and 27 across all competitions, as he won the League One Golden Boot.

A pivotal part of that deal, and also Orient’s wider success in the transfer market, was TransferRoom.

TransferRoom is world football’s transfer marketplace, and over 800 clubs and 550 verified Trusted Agencies use the online platform to connect directly, pitch players, see what other clubs are looking for and get access to real-time player data and market information.

Steve Foster, Leyton Orient’s Chief Scout, says in the video below: “TransferRoom is an online platform where clubs and agents can go on there and you can converse with each other, message each other.

“You can find out about certain player availability and also use it to maybe move players on as well, so they might not be in the manager’s plans.

“Charlie’s one I’ve known for a number of years. TransferRoom helped us on that first loan.

“On the second time we signed him, we already knew him, we knew his agent well, but yeah, it [TransferRoom] helped us too for that initial contact.”

Full video: How Leyton Orient signed Charlie Kelman

For Foster, having tracked Kelman over several seasons meant Orient had a clear idea of what they wanted. But TransferRoom offered something more. Efficiency, insight, and clarity.

Foster continues: “It saves what might be unrealistic phone calls about players, so it makes things a little bit easier for us if you know that they are definitely available if the club puts that player up.

“It saves a lot of cold calling at times and it helps us get value for money, yeah, definitely.”

“I’m on it every day at the moment, a couple of times a day. Also when you look at it as well, I’m going online just to find out if there are any clubs who may be wanting some of the players who may not be in the manager’s plans next season.

And for Foster, going forward, successful loans like Kelman’s, give him and Leyton Orient added credibility when they recruit talent on a temporary or permanent basis from Premier League and Championship clubs.

Foster adds: “We use Charlie as a prime example. 27 goals. He played 61 games last season, including all the cup matches and play-off games.

“[It shows that if] Players work hard in training, the manager will give them the sufficient minutes they need.”

How to join TransferRoom

There are over 800 clubs worldwide using TransferRoom, including Leyton Orient. You can find out how to join them here.

Agents, get access to the decision-makers at top clubs in over 130 leagues worldwide as a TransferRoom Trusted Agent. Find out more here.

Track every player transfer and salary payment and plan every window with confidence through TransferRoom's contract management tool, Contingency AI.