"A shame" - Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood name-checked in potential Leeds United transfer regret | OneFootball

Max Dean's progression since leaving Leeds United is a source of frustration among supporters

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds United may just be regretting their decision to let Max Dean leave for MK Dons, with the striker now having joined Belgian top-flight side Gent in a seven-figure swoop.

Having formerly spent time on the books at Everton before joining Leeds' academy, Dean was a prolific goalscorer for the Whites at age-group level but failed to make a senior appearance before joining MK Dons on a permanent deal in January 2023. The striker made nine appearances in the second half of 2022/23, which culminated in Dons' relegation from League One but saw Dean open his account in professional football by scoring in a 2-0 away victory at Bristol Rovers.

But their decision to prize him away from Thorp Arch was truly vindicated last term, where he scored 19 goals and made a further five assists in all competitions. His future at Stadium MK was called into doubt following their 8-1 crushing at the hands of Crawley Town across two legs in the League Two play-off semi-finals and he's since joined Gent for a fee in the region of £1.7m, after interest was registered from Toulouse in Ligue 1.

As per the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds had inserted a 50% sell-on clause with MK and stand to gain roughly £850,000 from Dean's switch to Belgium but that's seemingly done little to alleviate frustration from supporters.

Football League World's resident Whites pundit Kris Smith describes being impressed with Dean during his days in the club's academy set-up, which is now a source of disappointment given that he was allowed to leave the club just eighteen months ago.

"Having watched Max Dean since he was in Leeds' under-23's, his rise really isn't a shock to me," Kris explained to Football League World.

"I thought as soon as he took to the EFL he was going to hit the ground running and he's gone on to since.

"I'm not all surprised that he's seemingly overtaking Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood in his development either, he's always looked like a natural striker, knows where he should be playing and he's got a keen eye for goal as well, even if it was only at youth level for Leeds. His movement is ridiculously sharp and his confidence to take all sorts of chances is second to none at that level.

"Going to Gent to Belgium is an interesting move but it's a club that have clearly got a keen eye for talent especially in the EFL, because they've already got the left-back Archie Brown who's developing quite well over there and I feel like Dean's going to be following a similar trajectory, potentially heading back to England in years to come.

"For Leeds, it is a shame that we've jumped the gun on letting him go because everyone that watched him could see how much of a talent he was and now he's someone definitely worth keeping an eye on."

Joe Gelhardt and Sam Greenwood haven't kicked on in the same way as Gent signing Max Dean, to Leeds United's regret

Smith makes an interesting point of comparison by referencing Gelhardt and Greenwood, who have both received more opportunities to stake their respective claims at first-team level but are yet to kick on like Dean has.

Admittedly, the two attackers are both aged 22 and two years older than Dean and a fair chunk of their outings for the Whites have been substitute appearances, yet a combined return of five goals from 92 matches does invite necessary questions about whether Leeds made the right decision.