Martin Ling has spoken of his disappointment about the news that Ebou Adams will not be returning to Leyton Orient permanently this summer.

The O’s confirmed on Friday that the midfielder, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Brisbane Road from Norwich City, would not sign permanently, with a number of clubs believed to be interested in his services.

Adams was released by Norwich earlier this month and has been in talks with Orient over a permanent transfer for some time, as we have previously reported.

However, no deal could be agreed for the 22-year-old, who made 20 appearances during the second half of the season with Orient, scoring once against Gateshead in the FA Trophy thanks to a superb 25-yard strike which flew into the top corner.

That effort was named as Orient’s Goal-of-the-Season at the club’s end-of-season awards night recently and Adams became something of a fan favourite during his time at Brisbane Road for his energetic performances in midfield.

The news of Adams’ departure will be a blow to head coach Justin Edinburgh, who has repeatedly stated his desire to keep the midfielder at the club, and Ling spoke of his disappointment of the news when speaking to the Guardian Series at the Errol McKellar charity match on Sunday.

He said: “I’m not going to stand here and tell lies and say it wasn’t disappointing because it was. Ebou did really well for us and the easy answer for us was for him to stay.

“My belief is that he’s got league clubs who have made him the same sort of offer or better and he wants to play within the league. So, we have to accept that.

“Of course, we’ve got other options. He did do really well for us but I have got other people that I know will do just as good a job. I thank Ebou for his time but I don’t really worry about it too much because I have to move onto the next person on my shopping list.”

Orient will now focus their attentions on other targets, with the club keen to bring in at least one midfielder and possibly two more strikers in the summer transfer window, with Matt Harrold ruled out until September through injury.

However, O’s fans may have to wait a while yet before they see any potential incomings, with Ling insisting that the club will bide their time and adopt a pragmatic approach to transfers this summer.

When asked about whether there were any imminent new signings, Ling said: “Not at this moment in time. We’re probably down to about eight centre forwards and eight centre midfielders.

“We’re working our way through that personnel. We have touched base with a few players in both of them options. We know what type we want and as I say, we have got a shopping list but it’s not a big shopping list, so we can be a little more pragmatic this year. We can make sure we get it right.

“I’m not saying we didn’t get it right in the summer, but we were doing it so quickly that we were bound to make mistakes. This year we’ve got time on our side and we will come up with the right answers.”