Leyton Orient revealed that forward Ruel Sotiriou signed a new contract, keeping him at the club for a further two years after long negotiations.

The 19-year-old Sotiriou, burst onto the scene late last year bagging five goals in ten league appearances, including strikes against Colchester United, Stevenage and Newport County.

An Orient academy graduate; Sotiriou made his debut for the O’s against Dagenham & Redbridge back in 2017 before a flurry of loan moves, to help aid his development.

Having tasted first-team football in the Football League, the forward is keen to keep playing and scoring goals.

“It’s been a long-time coming – but obviously I’m delighted to be at the club where it all started, and now I can’t wait to kick on,” Sotiriou said.

“Pre-season has been tough, and gruelling, but we have our first friendly tomorrow to get more match fitness up, which is important.

“I’m a forward and I like to score goals, and hopefully I can keep doing this and help the team win.”

Following ongoing negotiations, Head Coach Ross Embleton is delighted to see Sotiriou commit to the O’s.

“I’m very happy Ruel has extended his stay,” said Embleton.

“I think it’s important people are aware, that since Ruel returned to training, his attitude has been excellent. I’ve never had any doubt that he was focused on being a Leyton Orient player.

“For everyone involved it has taken longer than we all hoped. I’m happy it has reached the conclusion it has, and we can focus on Ruel playing and scoring goals.”

“He has shown since coming into the team that he is more than capable at this level. For any young player it’s about playing games and proving you can do it.”

“At the start of Ruel’s career, he has done that, now it is about consistency, more minutes and scoring more goals. That will benefit Ruel and us as a football club.”

He added: “We have a lot of shining lights at our club who have come through our academy which is something we’re immensely proud of,”