Dean Huijsen has more to gain than any Real Madrid player this season

Young Real Madrid center back Dean Huijsen just received the No. 4 jersey from the club this summere, following in the foot steps of arguably the greatest center back of all time in Sergio Ramos. There have been a few great players who have worn this jersey for the Merengues, including Fernando Hierro and, most recently, David Alaba, who himself was one of the best defenders in world football before a devastating injury.

Huijsen has all the tools to be a great player. He is an amazing passer of the ball technically and a silky smooth athlete, and he looked like a future stud and a Rolls Royce of a defender in the Premier League for Bournemouth. But in his first season at the Santiago Bernabeu, the moment looked too big for Huijsen, and he struggled most in the tough, physical games against top opponents, particularly Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid still have high hopes for their 60 million euro investment in 2025, and even though Real Madrid signed a top center back this summer in Ibrahima Konate, Jose Mourinho didn't get another one. So with Eder Militao - and also Raul Asencio - still out injured as Matchday 1 creeps up, Huijsen is going to be a starter alongside Konate with veteran Antonio Rudiger as the third center back.

Dean Huijsen has so much potential

So far this preseason, Huijsen has been the most impressive center back, and he has a massive opportunity to make an impression on Jose Mourinho, who is just dying for someone to break out at the center back position as a top player in lieu of the signings he did not get, such as Nico Schlotterbeck and Ruben Dias.

Dean Huijsen is not as established of a name as Eder Militao or Ibrahima Koante, but his 2024/25 season with Bournemouth was arguably more impressive than anything either of the two veteran defenders produced these last two seasons.

There are a lot of key Real Madrid players with points to prove to Jose Mourinho and the fan base this season, and there are many who stand to benefit from Mourinho, such as Bernardo Silva, Marc Cucurella, and established superstars Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham. But there is no single player who can go from question mark to star at a crucial position of need quite like Huijsen, and how he does in the first matches of the season could set the tone for the role he plays in the XI throughout.