Leeds United had the better of Leicester City with 2010 agreement: View | OneFootball

Former Leeds United and Leicester City star Max Gradel helped his Ivory Coast side lift the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with a triumph over Nigeria in February.

At 36, it’s incredible to think he’s still performing on the international stage, given how much attacking talent that the Ivory Coast have. Gradel is a player that every Leeds and Leicester fan will have been delighted to see achieve something like that late in his career.

His career in England began back in 2004, after moving to the UK from Paris, with Gradel attending Lewisham College Football Academy under the tutelage of then head coach Aaron Jacob. It was there that he was spotted by Leicester and snapped up to their academy.

He had to bide his time with the Foxes, but, eventually, was handed a chance in August 2007 to impress, with Leicester manager Martin Allen making Gradel available for loan for the upcoming season. Three days later, Gradel joined AFC Bournemouth on an initial one-month loan, which was then extended for the season on transfer deadline day.

After impressing there, Gradel made his league debut for Leicester against MK Dons in August 2008, setting up a goal as Leicester won 2-0. That same month, Gradel signed a new contract that would run until June 2012 with the Foxes.

Gradel made 32 appearances in all competitions as Leicester secured their promotion as league champions. He was perhaps expecting more involvement the following season; however, Gradel made just one substitute appearance in the League Cup; instead, he joined Simon Grayson's Leeds side on loan for a month in October 2009.

Max Gradel's Leeds United career

He made his debut as a substitute during a 2-1 win over Norwich City the same evening he signed. Not long after, Gradel scored his first goal for the club against Yeovil Town within minutes after coming on as a substitute, which prompted chants of "Grayson sign him up" from the Leeds crowd.

They would initially extend his loan, before agreeing a permanent deal with the club, and Gradel became a vital component in winning another promotion from League One to the Championship. Despite being sent off for violent conduct in Leeds' final match of the 2009/10 season against Bristol Rovers when, after a moment of madness, he got himself a red card and then refused to leave the pitch in the first half of the match

However, Leeds won the game 2-1 and were promoted, with Gradel having helped with six goals and four assists from 32 games. It was in the following season that he developed into one of the deadliest wingers Leeds have seen in the last 20 years, though. He bagged a further 18 goals to help the team finish seventh in the table in their first year back in the second division.

The lightning pace of Gradel, combined with a more refined technical game the following season, saw him assist a further seven goals that season on top of the 18 he managed for himself, all of which came in 44 games. Gradel was electric on the wing for Leeds, with his speed making him an absolutely devastating player for the Whites at both League One and Championship level.

The Ivorian was part of a brilliant frontline during Simon Grayson’s tenure and picked up the Player of the Season award in his final full season where Leeds scored 81 goals as a team in the league, which speaks for itself. He and Robert Snodgrass became one of Leeds' most famous and fruitful wide pairings, across both the second and third tier.

Snodgrass had wonderful crossing ability from the right, as he was able to stand the ball up to the back post with his left-foot. Gradel, meanwhile, would turn his marker inside and out and had deadly ball-striking around the edge of the 18-yard-box, and would unleash shots whenever he got the opportunity to. It was a dream pairing for Leeds and Grayson, with Luciano Becchio feeding off everything else as the poacher inside the box.

With several clubs interested in Gradel and much speculation on his future, it was always likely he would be sold during the Ken Bates regime. He featured at the beginning of the second season back in the Championship after they narrowly missed out on promotion, but Leeds were in the process of losing plenty of the best players from that side Grayson had built.

Gradel leaves Leeds

Gradel left Leeds for French side Saint Étienne in the summer of 2011, which was a huge blow for Leeds supporters at the time. He went on to enjoy success in Ligue 1, including finishing as the club's top scorer in 2014. He even briefly returned to English football with Bournemouth, but it was not a successful period for the player.

An integral part of many teams he played in, with his pace and finishing providing all sorts of problems and headaches for opposing full-backs. The 36-year-old continues to play now, with Gaziantep FK in the Turkish Süper Lig, but will always be remembered most fondly by Leeds.

Inarguably, Leeds got the much better end of the deal with Gradel than Leicester, having scored or assisted 38 goals in 84 games for the club. Sadly, for both sets of fans, Gradel's time with the Ivory Coast came to an end in the last week, announcing his retirement from international football.