Dean Huijsen: The Future of Real Madrid's Defence
Real Madrid’s summer rebuild has been loud, expensive and very clear in its intent. Six new signings, a refreshed squad, and Jose Mourinho already talking up the progress made in pre-season. But beneath the noise, one of the most delicate calls he has to make sits right at the heart of his defence.
A crowded centre-back room, one clear opening
Central defence at Real Madrid is no place for uncertainty. Mourinho has Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao and the newly arrived Ibrahima Konate fighting for spots. All three are proven, aggressive, right-sided defenders who relish duels and physical battles.
The gap is on the left side of that pairing. That is where Dean Huijsen has quietly moved to the front of the queue.
According to MARCA, Huijsen is currently the leading candidate to start the season as Madrid’s main left-sided centre-back. Not as a stop-gap. As a first-team regular.
It makes sense. He is the only centre-back in the squad genuinely comfortable with both feet, able to open his body and play out to either flank without telegraphing his intentions. In a Mourinho team that will often be asked to build under pressure and then spring forward with precision, that detail matters.
Statement performance in La Coruna
Pre-season friendlies can flatter. This one did not.
Handed his first start under Mourinho in the Teresa Herrera Trophy against Deportivo La Coruna, Huijsen produced the kind of display that sticks in a coach’s mind when the real games start.
He marshalled the backline with authority, stepped in front of his man at the right moments, and read danger early. Seven successful defensive actions, not a single duel lost. The numbers simply underlined what the eyes were already telling: he looked in control.
It was the sort of performance that does more than earn applause on the night. It reinforced the idea inside the club that Huijsen is not just a promising squad option, but a defender with the tools to become an undisputed starter and a long-term pillar of Real Madrid’s backline.
The weight of number four
If his footballing profile suggests responsibility, his shirt number shouts it.
With David Alaba gone, Huijsen has taken on the iconic number four. At Real Madrid, that is not just a number stitched on the back. It is a lineage.
Sergio Ramos. Fernando Hierro. Leaders who defined eras, who carried the defence and often the entire team through the most demanding nights in Europe and at home.
Huijsen has not shied away from that history. He has embraced it. On social media, he wrote that it had always been his dream to play for Real Madrid and wear the number four, adding that Sergio Ramos was his childhood idol.
It is a bold choice, and a public one. You do not pick that number at this club unless you are prepared for the scrutiny that comes with it.
The one cloud over a rising role
There is, however, one issue Mourinho cannot ignore.
Huijsen’s injury record has already left scars. Fitness problems disrupted his previous campaign and cost him a place in Spain’s World Cup squad, a brutal reminder of how quickly momentum can vanish at the highest level.
That concern has not disappeared. Last week, he trained alone for long stretches due to discomfort, a fresh indication that his physical condition remains the key obstacle between him and the role he is chasing.
Mourinho can trust his reading of the game, his passing range, his composure in big stadiums. He can build a defensive structure around a left-sided centre-back who offers balance and clarity on the ball. But he needs to know Huijsen will be there week after week, not managing recurring problems from the treatment room.
So as the new season looms and Real Madrid’s revamped squad takes shape, the question is not just whether Dean Huijsen is good enough to wear the number four and anchor this defence.
It is whether his body will let him hold that position when the games start to truly matter.
