John McGreal has revealed Macauley Bonne asked to leave Colchester United prior to sealing a move to Leyton Orient.

The 21-year-old striker quit Colchester last week to join the O’s on a two-year deal, having found his opportunities limited at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

U’s head coach McGreal says academy product Bonne felt it was the right time for him to move onto pastures new and end his time in north Essex.

McGreal told the Daily Gazette: “Macauley had been here for a number of years and I think he’s only had 20-odd starts in four or five years.

“He came to us and expressed that he wanted to kick-start his career and he’s shown that he’s a man to say that.

“We’ve been a big part of his development and him getting to where he is at this minute.

“He went out on loan a couple of times last season and now it’s an opportunity for him to kick-start his career and we wish him all the best.

“It’s not just what happened last season – it’s what’s happened in the previous seasons before that.

“The competition was quite fierce last year and at this moment, he felt it was better for him to move on.”

Colchester are now looking to strengthen their forward options, with Bonne’s departure following Chris Porter’s decision to snub the offer of a new deal and leave for Crewe Alexandra earlier this summer.

McGreal said: “There is money to bring new players in but we’re not going to do it just for the sake of doing it.

“We’ve identified the players that we want and hopefully we can do that.”

Colchester continue their preparations for the new season tonight when they host a West Ham United XI in a friendly, at the Community Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).

The game will give the U’s a chance to increase their fitness levels and match sharpness, ahead of the start of the new League Two season on August 5.

“West Ham will come with a tough team and we’ll be looking to put our elements into it,” said McGreal.

“It’s our first home match of pre-season which is great and it’s about giving these boys minutes and maybe a bit more for one or two.

“We’re now going into the tougher games and we’ll now see where we are with these boys who have missed a lot of football.”