Stoke City and Cardiff City must capitalise on MK Dons play-off heartbreak: View | OneFootball

Young MK Dons striker Max Dean fired his team to the EFL League Two play-offs with over 20 goal contributions in the regular season, but the Dons play-off heartbreak could make him available to several clubs higher up in the Football League.

MK Dons were looking to bounce straight back to League One following their relegation to League Two ahead of their 2024/25 campaign, but a convincing two-legged play-off defeat to Crawley Town condemned them to consecutive seasons in the fourth tier for the first time in 17 years.

The Dons were the highest-seeded team in the play-offs and thus faced the lowest-seeded team, Crawley, as favourites. The Buckinghamshire team were left with a lot to do in the second leg after falling to a 3-0 away defeat. The Red Devils further compiled the misery on their opponents with a dominant 5-1 victory.

This play-off woe was not down to the efforts of Max Dean, though. He scored his team's only goal in their 8-1 aggregate defeat with a volleyed finish inside the six-yard box, albeit he did miss a penalty.

The 20-year-old has been a standout player for his team this season. He finished the 2023/24 campaign as MK Dons' top scorer and Young Player of the Year. He was even one of the three nominees for the League Two Young Player of the Year award.

The forward was the youngest player to reach 20 goal contributions in the regular season and his 0.94 goals and assists per 90 minutes was the second-best in the division, according to data from FBREF.

Another season in League Two for MK could see their young talent depart in the summer to further progress his career at a club in a higher division, with many clubs needing a new striker in the summer.

The striker has reportedly already attracted interest from French top-flight team Toulouse, according to journalist Alan Nixon, and the club were said to have made an offer of around £1 million in January.

Dean could settle Schumacher's selection issues at Stoke

Steven Schumacher's Stoke City are in desperate need of a goalscorer in the summer. The Potters' league top goalscorer in the 2023/24 season was André Vidigal, who managed only six goals, over four times less than Championship top goalscorer Sammie Szmodics.

The club have tried a whopping 11 different players in the striker position this season in the league, according to data from WhoScored. Moroccan international Ryan Mmaee has been preferred up top, but he managed just three goals all season.

Signing Dean could prove to be a stroke of genius by Schumacher if the forward can nail down the number nine spot and help last season's joint-fourth-lowest scorers to distance themselves from the relegation zone in the 2024/25 Championship season. He's young enough to develop and obviously heading into next year with enough confidence to hit the ground running after an excellent campaign.

Cardiff need a goalscorer to reach the next level

Turkish manager Erol Bulut has improved Cardiff City this term. They finished in 12th place, nine places higher than last season, but still 11 points away from the play-offs.

Adding a goalscorer such as Dean could seriously improve the Welsh side's chances of making the play-offs next season. This season, their joint-top goalscorers included defender Perry Ng alongside Karlan Grant with six each in the league.

Cardiff were joint bottom of the division, alongside relegated Rotherham United and the aforementioned Stoke, for goals by their highest scorer. Bulut must prioritise a number nine in the summer transfer window and MK Dons' 2023/24 top-scorer could be his man.

MK Dons League Two play-off semi-final disaster against Crawley was not the end to the season that Dean deserved after his form in front of goal and Young Player of the Season nomination showed.

The Dons will remain in the fourth tier for the 2024/25 season and this will hand any potential suitors of their star forward a boost in signing him.