'Without Leeds United I wouldn't have made it' - Euro striker on post-Elland Road adventure and provocative celebration

Max Dean joins the call from his club-rented accommodation in the Belgian city of Ghent. The 20-year-old is plying his trade in Belgium's top flight these days, almost two years on from leaving Leeds United. He is friendly, chatty and generous with his time - a Merseysider through-and-through. Nothing is off the table, but why would it be? Dean has just notched his ninth and tenth goals of the season, seven of which have been for four-time Belgian cup winners KAA Gent. It's only November.

When Dean left Elland Road, the expectation was not that he'd be playing European football inside 18 months, far from it. But, his appearance in this season's UEFA Conference League is evidence if ever it was needed that lots has happened since the youngster's Leeds exit in January 2023.

Whilst never a full debutant for United, Dean was a regular within the Under-21 setup at Leeds, scoring freely under Mark Jackson and latterly Michael Skubala - now in charge at Australian champions Central Coast Mariners and Lincoln City, respectively. It could have been so very different for the magnanimous striker, though, after missing two spot-kicks during the first-half of a trial game for Leeds' Under-18s.

"That day was crazy, missing the two pens, I just thought: 'Yeah, won't be signing here, like,'" he said.

"Then I scored two in the second half and it went from there, really. Had another game [on trial] after that against Bolton with the 18s and then signed after that. It was nuts."

Jackson took the young forward under his wing after he was released by boyhood club Everton's academy, fast-tracking him to the 21s setup at Leeds, which included the likes of Joe Gelhardt, Sam Greenwood, Charlie Cresswell and Crysencio Summerville at the time.

"When I was at Leeds, I was competing with Joffy [Gelhardt] and Sam [Greenwood] who are unbelievable players, aren't they? And then Mateo [Joseph] came in," Dean adds.

"They're already doing unbelievable but the careers they're going to have when they've finished, I can say I had to compete with them players. I've always had strong competition and I've got good relationships with all three of them."

Renowned at Thorp Arch for his tireless, swaggering approach to centre-forward play, pressing and hassling opposition defenders into making mistakes, before making the most of his goal celebrations, Dean's 'in-your-face' attitude on the pitch made him an U21s fan favourite.

"Starting in Saturday league [football] in Liverpool, it's kind of the mentality of Everton's academy, first of all you work hard and throw a tackle before you learn to pass a ball and that.

"You need to put the body on the line before anything, that's what we used to learn so I think I took it from there and then I'm still like it now. I feel I have to give 100 per cent - maybe not throw a tackle in because VAR's involved [now], but little stuff just to keep my mind on the game and ready to go," Dean says.

Goals against Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United's youth teams at Elland Road are 'up there' among the highlights from his Leeds spell, but Dean says one game in particular he recalls most fondly.

"Probably the two Barrow goals away [in the EFL Trophy]. I know we went on to lose on pens but yeah, that was my first start for the 21s. That feeling scoring against a first-team, was probably my favourite.

"I played on the Saturday for the Under-18s, played 90 minutes, and the game [vs Barrow] was on the Monday. Then Joffy got injured on Sunday, so I was told I'm starting. I was like, I played 90 yesterday, so it's going to be a struggle. As soon as I go into the game and got the two goals, I forgot about how tired my legs were, it was just the momentum, taking me through it."

Averaging a goal every other game for the 21s and with six months remaining on his Leeds deal, the prospect of first-team football for what was then a Premier League side appeared slim. So, Dean jumped at the chance to join former 21s coach Jackson at MK Dons in League One. His introduction to life at stadium:mk were fraught with difficulty, vying for a place alongside seasoned '27-and-28-year-olds' as the club battled against relegation.

"Taking me to MK was a big risk because I was 18 at the time, in a relegation fight but he [Jackson] gave me them chances," Dean says, reflecting on his permanent switch. "What you see is what you get with him, he's a top guy, top coach, he'll tell you off when you need it but put an arm around your shoulder as well.

"I think it was the right time for me to go. I wanted to go myself, to play first-team football. I had to get out and obviously with six months left on my deal, it had to be a permanent move.

"I loved my time at Leeds. Without Leeds, I know I wouldn't have made it as a professional footballer, so I love the club today, I love the club to bits but I had to go and play football. I didn't want to be 20, 21 still knocking round in the 23s team. I knew I had to get out and play."

MK Dons were relegated at the end of the 2022/23 season and Jackson relieved of his duties. Dean was not first choice and had just lost his greatest ally.

Graham Alexander arrived and didn't last very long, but it was under Mike Williamson that Dean was given a run in the team and began to shine. Fifteen goals and five assists in 29 league appearances helped fire MK Dons to the League Two play-offs and although promotion wasn't to be, the 2023/24 campaign is one Dean looks back upon with great pride.

In June, Gent came calling. By July 12, he had signed a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee with the club and would now be challenging for a place in the team alongside the likes of Andri Gudjohnsen, Icelandic international and son of former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur.

"It's been going well," Dean says humbly, after 10 goals for club and country despite not yet being a regular starter. "We've had loads and loads of games with Europe and cup and league, so we've had to rotate and make sure everyone's fully fit. So, at the minute, I'm happy with the 10, but I'm not going to stop now.

"First England [U-20s] call-up playing with different players was nice. Made my debut, you couldn't have asked for much better, last minute winner against Italy, and then Czech Republic game, I could've had about four or five. So, yeah, that was a nice feeling," he adds, more candidly.

Gent's European campaign has so far seen the Buffalos make it through the qualifying rounds past Faroese club Vikingur, Danish side Silkeborg and Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade, fixtures a world away from Premier League 2 and Friday evening kick-offs for Leeds' 21s in front of a couple hundred spectators at York City's LNER Stadium. Dean also came off the bench in front of a sold-out Stamford Bridge as the Belgians went down 4-2 to Chelsea in the newly-formatted group stage - a 'pinch-me' moment, he says.

"I scored against Silkeborg. It was meant to be a last minute winner, but they equalised a minute later, but that feeling was like 'I could have sent us through here'.

"I said to the lads here, I was playing at Stamford Bridge against the [Chelsea] 23s, and lost one-nil in front of 200 people, and that was only two years before [the game] the other week. So yeah, sometimes you just have to take a step back and realise, I've done decent for myself, to be fair, because, like, playing there in front of a full crowd and the squad that they had is a joke, so that was an unbelievable feeling."

Those who can recall Dean's performances in a Leeds shirt might remember he was anything but a shrinking violet, supremely confident in his own abilities and capable of backing it up. He hasn't lost that edge to his game either, that persona as great agitator, and has already endeared himself to Gent supporters with an important goal in the derby with Club Brugge.

"As soon as I signed, it was Club Brugge, that's the only thing you hear all the time, just 'We need to beat Brugge'. You could feel the tension during the week - we got absolutely battered for 35 minutes, and then the ball just fell to me and I scored. That was a pinch me moment as well."

And how did a proud Liverpudlian, schooled at Everton and Leeds' academies celebrate his goal against Gent's biggest rivals? By mimicking MMA fighter Conor McGregor's swaggering strut, in front of the Brugge supporters, of course.

"[It was] spirit of the moment. I did it last season against Notts County, because I remember they were booing me early. Every time I touched it I was getting booed. So when I scored I did it, and it was similar in Bruges so I thought I'll do that one again, it seemed to wind them up. I do that."

Dean is pleased to see lots of his ex-Leeds colleagues making careers for themselves away from Thorp Arch and remains in touch with plenty of them. He mentions U21s stalwarts Kris Moore, Harvey Sutcliffe, Charlie Allen, Gelhardt, Sean McGurk and Lewis Bate by name and feels it is no coincidence the Leeds academy has such a hit-rate.

"Playing with all them players, you don't realise when you're there how good the team was.

"The setup that we had, the pitches, the gym, everything was just set up for us - if you don't make it, it's on you, because you've got everything there. You're playing with quality players, and you've got quality facilities and quality coaches. So if you don't make it, you can only look at yourself."

Not yet dressing room DJ at the Arteveldestadion, Dean's Gent teammates will have to wait to hear his Merseyside-inspired playlist, but as far as settling in goes, the Leeds graduate is taking to life on the continent like a duck to water. Former 21s teammate Charlie Cresswell, now at Toulouse in France's top tier, is 'only down the road' as well, he remarks.

"I was the DJ at MK last year, and I was always in and around the DJ at Leeds. But I've had to buy a new pair of headphones, because I don't think the lads are really into my type of music," Dean jokes. Professionally, he's setting his sights and the bar high.

"Individually, [I want to] just score as many goals as possible. That's what I live for. That's what I get paid for. That's my job. That's always been, ever since I was kid, that was my job to put the ball in the goal."

Competing on multiple fronts, for club and country, 2024 has been a bumper year for the Ormskirk-born striker. Leeds received a significant portion of the fee Gent paid MK Dons when he moved in the summer as part of a pre-agreed sell-on clause, but it would be intriguing to see how the 20-year-old might have fared in the current Whites setup gunning for promotion back to the Premier League.

Fans can continue to watch his development from afar, which might yet deliver silverware; Gent were Belgian cup champions as recently as 2022, finalists in 2019, league title winners in 2015 and runners-up in 2020.

"I think team goals will be to qualify for the knockout stages of the Conference League. League, obviously, it splits off into two [championships] in March. So it's all about finishing in Play-Off [Group] One, so then we give ourselves a chance at winning the league.

"And then we're in the last eight of the cup. We've got a tough one away to Union [Saint-Gilloise], but don't see why we can't win that as well."