Former Leyton Orient boss Omer Riza believes it would be “totally wrong” if the O’s closed their academy given the vast array of talent it has produced.

The future of Orient’s academy remains unclear after director of football Martin Ling raised concerns about its funding as well as new rules introduced by the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).

Ling also admitted that the O’s could lose some of their brightest young talents for free from 2019 if they remained in the National League.

Orient’s academy has certainly produced its fair share of talent, with the likes of Myles Judd, Sam Ling, Josh Koroma as well as Dan Happe featuring regularly under Justin Edinburgh since his appointment as head coach.

Sam Sargeant and Shadrach Ogie have also been around the squad this campaign too.

Former boss Riza, who now works at Watford’s academy, knows only too well about the quality of Orient’s younger players, having worked closely with the Under-16 and Under-18 sides during his time with the club.

The 38-year-old was credited for bringing through a number of young players during his short time in charge of the O’s, with former academy graduates Steven Alzate and Victor Adeboyejo since going on to forge careers in the Football League.

As a result, Riza believes it would be a huge mistake if the club decided to close their academy.

He said: “The club have achieved massively when it comes to their academy. It’s something they should really consider because I’m hearing a lot of talk about them possibly not having an academy next year and for me, that would be totally wrong on all levels because what the academy has achieved and what the academy has brought into the club financially far outweighs what the club has made financially in other areas.

“The academy at the club was self-sufficient for another five years even if they dropped out of the league. They need to think about what they’re doing with that money, in respect of the money that’s been made by the academy should be put back into the academy. That’s something the club seriously need to have a think about.”

When asked by the Guardian Series about the future of Orient’s academy back in May, Ling said: “Since the new rules of EPPP, the money you make out of your academy is a lot less, even if you’re in the league because with EPPP, it works out a formula for players to go.

“The second area is that last year, we had full funding. The Football League fully funded us during the first year out of the league. This year, we have got half funding. A year after, we will have to find all the money so we will have to look at where best our money is spent and we’ve got to look at whether it’s best spent in our academy.

“The biggest problem out of all of it is that as from the summer next year, we have no protection. So, we have 108 boys across the road from the age of nine upwards. At the moment, each of them has a value on them so if a club wanted to take them, we could ask for compensation. As of next summer, we’ve got no compensation at all, so a club at any time can just pick any of our players and we’ve got no compensation.

“We’ve got to look at whether we look at developing a player for three or four years which a club at any time can take for nothing. But there’s been no decision at this moment in time.”

Leyton Orient declined to comment when contacted to provide a further update surrounding the academy.