Leeds United may actually be welcoming the upcoming international break for a change.
The trip to Sunderland this evening is Leeds‘ final match before a two-week break as several members of the squad prepare to jet across the world and represent their respective countries.
No Championship club had more players away on international duty during the September break and it is likely to be the same again, though several of them are now out injured.
Ethan Ampadu and Dan James will be both be unable to represent Wales, while Ilia Gruev (Bulgaria), Max Wober (Austria) and potentially even Manor Solomon (Israel) are all out injured too.
With so many players on the sidelines, Daniel Farke will potentially welcome this mini-season break to give them some extra time to get back fit once club football is back up and running.
Max Dean continues resurgence after Leeds exit
Over the course of the last 24 hours, England have been announcing their various different squads from youth levels, right up to the senior side.
As was of course expected, Leeds have no representatives in the senior squad. However, further down the age groups in the U20s, it does have a Leeds feel to it.
Wayne Rooney praised Leeds loanee Darko Gyabi for his performances at Plymouth Argyle earlier this week and he has been rewarded with a place in England’s Elite League Squad (U20s).
Joining Gyabi will be former Leeds youngster Max Dean, who just continues to go from strength-to-strength since his departure under Jesse Marsch in January 2023.
After netting 19 goals across 34 appearances for MK Dons last season, Dean earned himself a move to Gent in the summer, a transfer that banked Leeds over £1 million.
Dean has enjoyed a fine start to life in Belgium, so much so he has earned himself a place in one of England’s youth squads for the first time in his career, for matches against Italy and Czechia.
Max Dean’s enjoys brilliant start to life at Gent
Belgium has been a good avenue for English youngsters to go down in recent years and Dean is certainly no different on that behalf.
Dean has made seven starts across all competitions so far for Gent and already has five goals, one of which came in the impressive recent win at Club Brugge.
Dean’s move to Gent has also enabled him to play European football at such an early stage of his career, with three of his goals coming in the qualifiers for the Conference League.
Incidentally, Gent were actually in action away at Chelsea in that competition on Thursday night, with Dean providing an assist from the bench in a 4-2 defeat.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
