Real Madrid announced signing of defender Dean Huijsen
Real Madrid have announced the signing of defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth.
The deal has been completed in time for Huijsen to play in the Club World Cup after the Spanish giants activated his £50m release clause.
Author - Ed
The 20-year-old has signed a five-year deal that allows him to debut at the newly expanded tournament in the United States.
Both clubs confirmed the move with Madrid saying that one-time Spain international Huijsen will officially join on 1 June. Their first match of the Club World Cup is against Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal on 18 June.
The fee will be paid in three instalments, with Huijsen's two former clubs set to receive a slice of the fee. Juventus are due 10% and Malaga 5%.
Huijsen had as many as seven offers on the table, and had attracted interest from Premier League clubs Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle.
Huijsen has chosen Real and will return to Spain where he grew up, playing for Costa Unida CF academy in Marbella and Malaga's youth team.
Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso, who is set to replace Carlo Ancelotti as Real manager, has been instrumental in the decision to sign the defender and prioritised signing a young centre-back.
Huijsen joined Bournemouth from Juventus last summer for a fee of £12.6m. The Netherlands-born defender has made 34 appearances in all competitions for the Cherries this season. He is set to become Madrid's second signing from the Premier League this summer, with Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold also set to move to the Spanish capital.
He was the subject of an international tug-of-war between the Netherlands, where he was born, and Spain, where he was raised. After a while, he opted to play for Spain and made his debut for the 2024 European Championship winners against the Netherlands in March 2025.
A good deal for Bournemouth
Bournemouth ended up signing Huijsen for £12.6m, in a deal potentially rising to £15m. After an injury to team-mate Marcos Senesi, Huijsen broke into Bournemouth's starting XI and hasn't looked back.
He was exceptional on his third Premier League start, scoring a towering header in a 1-0 win over Tottenham at Vitality Stadium in December.He has been an ever-present in Andoni Iraola's defence since.
Once a move to the Bernabeu is completed, the Cherries will have quadrupled their initial outlay on the defender.
Huijsen can meet the demands of playing at the highest level.
What has become very clear, not just at Real Madrid but at all the top teams, is that there are players who cannot last a whole season and cannot play three games in a row. It has nothing to do with training or bad preparation, it is just the physical demands.
Real have felt for a while that there are a few areas of the team need reinforcements. Central defence is one of them.
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In Huijsen, they see someone who can maintain the level of the Premier League. It is also believed that he has the physicality to deal with it and is still developing.
The club was always going to invest in a centre-back this summer, but they have decided to invest quickly before the Club World Cup. This is perhaps already a sign of the importance of the new competition.
