Oct 12, 2025, 12:27 PM ETDemetri Mitchell used an unusual form of assistance when negotiating his move to Leyton Orient. Pete Norton/Getty Images
Former Manchester United youth prospect Demetri Mitchell has claimed he used AI platform ChatGPT when negotiating his move to League one side Leyton Orient, saying that the software has been his “best agent to date.”
Mitchell began his career at Old Trafford, going on to make one league appearance for the club before spells at Hearts, Blackpool, Hibernian and Exeter City.
This summer, the 28-year-old left Exeter to join Orient on a free transfer and has said he navigated the move without an agent, a largely unprecedented move in professional football.
“They [Leyton Orient] sent me an offer, and I started using ChatGPT, asking it how to negotiate a deal, and what to say in it,” Mitchell said on the From My Left podcast.
“This is what I was on last season, moving to London, cost of living, missus is gonna move down with me, my little one. I did think I was worth a little bit more as well, but you don’t want to be like that, ‘Oh, yeah I think I should be worth an X amount.’
“And then, also because I didn’t use the agent, I get that [agent fee] as a signing-on fee. [An] agent might have got me a couple hundred pound more, because in these deals there’s not loads of money going on, it’s not big, big amounts.
“So the agent might have got me a couple hundred more, and then the percent that I would have to pay them, the difference, is going to be eaten up anyway.”
Mitchell also launched a wider critique on agents in football and said that the options for representation open to lower-league footballers leaves a lot to be desired.
“There’s three types of agents,” he said.
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“There’s the agent that works for an agency, who’s just getting a salary, then you got agent number two, who works for a big agency and they’re trying to sign young, up-and-coming prospects and then once you’re not one of them prospects anymore, they’re not interested.
“And then there’s agent number three, the one that’s got their own business, [that are] just money-hungry … So they just want to get moves anywhere and anywhere fast.
“When you’re in the lower leagues, it’s difficult to get a good agent, because that’s all you’ve got to work with.”
Mitchell has played for England youth teams ranging from the Under-16s to U20s and made the preliminary 60-man squad for Jamaica ahead of the 2025 Gold Cup.
He has made eight appearances at Brisbane Road this season but is yet to get his first goal for the club.
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