Dover Athletic have finally agreed a fee with Leyton Orient over the signing of former Whites skipper Connor Essam.

The League 2 club have paid Dover an undisclosed fee for the defender, who agreed a two-year deal at Brisbane Road last week after impressing on trial.

Dover initially refuted any agreement had been reached between the clubs, with Dover entitled to compensation for Essam as he is under the age of 24 and was offered a new contract at Crabble.

However an Orient statement released on Wednesday - nine days after they first announced his signing - said: "We are pleased to announce today that an undisclosed fee has been agreed with Dover Athletic in regards to the sale of Connor Essam.

"No FA tribunal will be required and throughout this transfer the Club have always acted in a correct, professional manner."

Essam, who started his career at Gillingham, renews acquaintances with Orient boss Ian Hendon and assistant Andy Hessenthaler - who both worked with him at Gills.

Hendon said: "We are delighted to bring Connor in and he is someone both I and Andy Hessenthaler have worked with in the past.

"We gave him his debut at Gillingham back when me and Andy were there and he was literally a boy. He was a big lad but he was very skinny but now he has physically developed and he has already shown us what he is capable of.

"He handled playing in the Conference last year for a season very well and we had no problems in taking Connor."

During his time as Gills player, Essam had loan spells at Dover and Dartford, who he rejoined on loan after making a permanent move to Crawley in 2013.

The 23-year-old was a deadline day signing last September for Dover boss Chris Kinnear, who handed Essam the captain's armband as Whites finished eighth in the Vanarama Conference.