“I don’t care,” Dean Huijsen said and there was a shrug to go with his answer. The former Bournemouth player had just become the most expensive defender in Real Madrid’s history for £50m, but while the 20-year-old talked about “living a dream” on the day he was presented at their Valdebebas training ground, the price didn’t seem to bother him much. Not least because nothing did. “I’m quite calm,” he said. “I am me and I am going to live my life and I do what I like most.”
“Madrid is the club of my life, I think,” Huijsen had said when he stepped on to the stage in the basketball arena, tapped the mic and asked: “Can you hear me?” The son of Dutch footballer Donny Huijsen, who was sitting in the front row with Huijsen’s mother Mascha Wijsmuller. The family moved to southern Spain when Dean was five and it was Málaga he was mad about as a boy, although he said here that Sergio Ramos was his idol.
Huijsen admitted his initial plan had been to stay at Bournemouth for another season but everything accelerated, above all his development. A full Spain debut came in March against the Netherlands, at which he was booed by the home fans after choosing to represent Spain, and Madrid’s rebuild under Xabi Alonso brought interest from the Bernabéu to go with the offers from clubs across England and beyond.
“A lot was said but I just concentrated on my football, giving everything at Bournemouth and trying to finish the season in the right way,” Huijsen said. “I wanted to be here from the first day; once Real Madrid called I didn’t have eyes for any other teams. For me, Real Madrid is the best club in the world and there is no other club when they appear.”
“I think my first nice memory of Real Madrid was the [Champions League] final in 2014 in which Sergio Ramos scored in the last minute of added time. I would have been nine,” the new signing added. “Ramos sent me a message when [the transfer] was official. He’s my biggest idol, the best centre-back in history. I wouldn’t say there is one thing about him [to single out], but all the things he had: he was the most complete centre-back too.”
When the final bid came, Madrid matched Bournemouth’s £50m buyout clause, albeit they will pay the almost €60m fee in three instalments. “I don’t think about that,” Huijsen said. When he had been asked about it during the recent international break, he had been even more matter-of-fact: “It’s the clause I had,” he told AS, “and if it hadn’t been that maybe they would have asked for more.”
As for the pressure, when he was asked about that here, Huijsen replied: “Well you’ve seen me play: I’m quite calm. I don’t think about it. I’m doing what I love.” He will wear No 24 for a simple reason: “It’s the one there is [available].”
“I fit very well the football that Xabi wants to play and I am going to try to contribute to the team; anything I can do to help, I’m delighted to do so,” Huijsen said. “We have spoken a bit about what he expects from me, and I think these will be nice years. Bringing the ball out is something I have, as well as defending.
after newsletter promotion
“I think I have shown I am ready. I’m here to help the team and [as for] the demands here: I want to win titles too. I’m not here to not win titles.”
