The 22-year-old originally joined United from Linfield in 2017 — making one senior appearance for the Red Devils in six years — but due to the sheer competition for midfield places has spent the last two years on loan at Doncaster Rovers and Salford City.

With a number of clubs having enquired about his availability, Galbraith settled on a deal earlier this month with newly-promoted Orient, who are confident of causing a stir in League One.

With two caps for Northern Ireland — the last of which came in 2020 — he was part of Michael O’Neill’s squad for the recent double-header against Denmark and Kazakhstan, only to miss out on ultimate game time.

Now that Galbraith is free from the United safety net, he’s ready to kickstart an intriguing chapter under Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens, for whom he played during his spell with Doncaster.

O’Neill spoke recently about the importance for Galbraith to find a club where he can flourish under the right manager. And the Belfast native sought the counsel of fellow Northern Ireland cap Paul Smyth, who recently rejoined Queens Park Rangers after starring for Orient last term.

Speaking to BBC Radio London, Galbraith said: “Hopefully being here will have me back in the international squad. I think it’ll be good for me, back in League One. Michael (O’Neill) has been great for me throughout my career.

“Whatever club you’re at you need to play well to get international recognition. I’m not a loan player any more and hope to get up and running, get into the international squad and take it from there.

“I worked with the gaffer before at Doncaster and enjoyed playing under him. He’s a great guy and when he came in for me, that played a heavy part in where I wanted to go.

“He (Wellens) is a legend and is great with the team on and off the pitch. He wants me to play with intensity, especially with the excitement of the promotion. He told me it is a great group and I noticed from playing against them last season you can see what a group is like, especially when it’s one of the best teams in the League.

“I know Paul Smyth and he said the group was unbelievable in the way they play football and the overall mood.”

Optimistic Galbraith is clearly relishing the taste of a new campaign with the east London outfit, especially with a League debut imminent against city rivals Charlton on the first day of the season. He will, additionally, take his elite experience with United to the task with the side who won the 2022-23 League Two title by six points.

He explained: “I thought, ‘I’m back to where I want to be’ and the club feel that as well. There is a level of expectation, and coming from Belfast at a young age I’ve had a lot of pressure, like a lot of younger players from Northern Ireland. But you have to block out the noise.

“I can’t wait for it. We are more than capable of doing well when you look at the quality of the squad and we all believe in ourselves. You can’t get too high or too low and the gaffer is one of the best from that point of view.

“Both of my loan spells were good in different ways and different styles of play. A lot of teams in both League One and League Two go longer in playing style and you have to adapt, but play your own game at the same time. I always wanted to make a quick impact.”

Galbraith added: “It was incredible at United. Coming over to a huge club was a real eye opener, it was amazing.

“Obviously being around the first-team squad and world-class midfielders and learning from them was great. All the small things on and off the pitch from there are what I want to replicate now.”