Leyton Orient eye QPR swoop to replace Dom Ballard after £5m exit | OneFootball

Leyton Orient are looking at bringing Alfie Lloyd back to the club following the sale of Dom Ballard

Leyton Orient are eyeing up a return for QPR frontman Alfie Lloyd this summer as the League One side goes to work to replace Dom Ballard.

The 21-year-old was a shining light in an otherwise dismal campaign for Orient last year, winning the Golden Boot with 23 goals alongside picking up the third tier's Young Player and Player of the Year awards.

Keeping Ballard at Brisbane Road was always going to be difficult this summer, and Bristol City have been the side to swoop in, signing him for a reported £5 million and linking up with fellow impressive former League One frontman Lorent Tolaj at Ashton Gate.

Michael Skubala's side have been long-term admirers of the young striker, with FLW reporting a first rejected bid back at the start of July. They finally now have their man, but for Leyton Orient, the time to sign a replacement likely isn't as long as they'd have ideally wanted.

Leyton Orient set their sights on Alfie Lloyd once again this summer

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Nevertheless, reports surrounding who will replace Ballard have already started to swirl, and the O's are looking at a former loanee who picked up a League One winner's medal last season.

Per Darren Witcoop, Leyton Orient are keen on bringing in QPR frontman Alfie Lloyd for the second summer in a row, despite a bit of a dud loan spell last season.

Indeed, Lloyd joined Richie Wellens' side on a season-long loan last summer, following a 2024/25 campaign where he was on the fringes of the action at Loftus Road, netting twice in 27 Championship appearances, only four of which were starts.

The 23-year-old needed regular game time, but he couldn't find that at Brisbane Road. An injury picked up in his first training session with Orient kept him out for the first three months of the campaign. By then, Ballard had already established himself as the main line-leader, and Lloyd struggled to get in the side once he recovered.

He made just one start, his final game against Cardiff City, before QPR recalled him and relocated him to Lincoln City, where he was still mainly a depth option - he only made one start there, too - but he was doing so for the third-tier champions.

Despite returning to Loftus Road with a League One winner's medal, though, he still isn't getting into the squad over the likes of Rumarn Burrell and Richard Kone, and several third-tier sides are interested in bringing him in, including Orient.

How Leyton Orient fans have reacted to fresh Alfie Lloyd links

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There isn't much enthusiasm amongst Leyton Orient fans about the prospect of bringing Lloyd back to help fill the massive gap left by Ballard.

The 23-year-old didn't get much of an opportunity to impress at Brisbane Road, but in the few games he did, he didn't do much to encourage Orient fans that he could be a top League One frontman.

"Got help us if so. No thanks," one Orient fan said in response to the reports on X. "Hell no, they can keep him!!" said another.

Even the more optimistic of Leyton Orient supporters find it hard to get excited over the prospect of welcoming Lloyd back, with one going as far as to compare replacing Ballard with the 23-year-old to "replacing a comfy mattress with a bed of nails."

"Only Orient could sign a player that doesn’t work out, panic buy a replacement who ends up being unbelievable, sell him and go back to the original option," another fan stated.

Whoever replaces Dom Ballard at Leyton Orient will have massive shoes to fill this season

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It's not a hot take to say that, without the influence of Ballard leading the line for Leyton Orient last season, the 2025 play-off finalists would have been relegated last season.

Granted, Richie Wellens' side struggled with goalkeeper and defensive availability, and Aaron Connolly missed the majority of the season, too, and if that ended up not being the case, then the O's may have been fine.

But the reality was that it wasn't, and without Ballard's 23 goals, an Orient side who only finished three points above the drop could have easily fallen into the bottom four.

So far this summer, Leyton Orient have worked to plug those defensive gaps and have brought in a solid goalkeeper and defenders who should stop them from shipping as many goals as they did last year. With Ballard leading the line, they should have been in a good place to climb back into the top half.

Now, though, they have a massive hole to fill at the top end of the pitch, and while whoever the replacement is won't be expected to score the goals to keep Orient in the division, as they have a more well-balanced squad, they'll still be relied on heavily to carry the attack.

Right now, the signing of Lloyd seems uninspired. However, neither Charlie Kelman nor Ballard were established frontmen before they played under Richie Wellens. Perhaps whoever replaces the 21-year-old could be in for a career year in front of goal.