Dean Huijsen: The two-footed, progressive centre-back coveted by Europe's top clubs

New York Times

30-03-2025

Dean Huijsen has already had quite the career.
Barely two years ago, he was plying his trade for Juventus Next Gen, nominally the club's under-23s side, while captaining the Netherlands' under-19s. This month, after switching international allegiances, he made his senior debut for the Spanish national team, a testament to his impressive club performances at the heart of Bournemouth's defence. Europe's leading clubs are, unsurprisingly, eyeing him up.
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His rise has been rapid but the 19-year-old has all the attributes of the archetypal modern-day centre-back — a sentiment shared by his international manager.
'It simply looks like he's been at the elite level of football for many years,' Luis de la Fuente said after Spain's Nations League quarter-final victory over the Netherlands. 'He has fitted so well with our group with his skill set but also his personal values.'
For those seeking to know Huijsen's best attributes, a single 10-second sequence from his most recent game at the Mestalla in Valencia rolls them all up into a neat package.
As Dutch full-back Lutsharel Geertruida looks to play the ball inside to Memphis Depay, Huijsen steps out from defence to calmly intercept and spark a Spain counter-attack. Rather than admire his pass, the teenager runs beyond team-mate Dani Olmo to become the most advanced player, collecting a return pass before sliding a ball in behind to the pacy Nico Williams.
Front-foot defending? Check. Stepping out from the back? Done. An eye for a piercing progressive pass? No problem.
For the handful of people who are yet to do so, it's time to sit up and take notice of Dean Huijsen.
Starting with his defensive work, Huijsen likes to stick in a foot — or head. That has been the case since he first donned a Bournemouth shirt, with nine aerial duels contested on his debut — still the most in a game by a centre-back this season.
Looking at the graphic below, Huijsen is among the most active centre-backs for typical defensive actions, stretching every inch of his 6ft 6in (198cm) frame to rise above an opposition striker, clear the ball from danger, or block a goal-bound shot on his goal.
That is not to say he always waits for the ball to come near him. Beyond the bread-and-butter defending, Huijsen is comfortable stepping out and stifling attacks before they develop — with 4.1 'true' interceptions (which includes interceptions plus blocked passes) per 1,000 opponent touches being the second-highest among centre-backs in the league this season.
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The modern-day centre-back is commonly asked to defend wide areas in one-v-one duels, making Huijsen's proactive style perfectly suited to Andoni Iraola's aggressive principles of play. Left-back Milos Kerkez is tasked with pushing forward to support Bournemouth's attack, so Huijsen will often be asked to shuffle across and defend large areas against pacey wingers.
This is neatly shown during February's match against Brighton & Hove Albion. With Kerkez ahead of the ball as Brighton regain possession, Huijsen calmly moves across to stifle Yankuba Minteh's momentum by matching his run and preventing him from coming inside on his stronger left foot.
It was a similar story at home against Liverpool. With Kerkez pushing high with Bournemouth in possession (frame one), Mohamed Salah keeps his position to gain an advantage as Liverpool regain the ball and counter-attack. Recognising the danger, Huijsen is quick to shuffle across and make a vital challenge on the Egyptian before he can get up to speed.
The same can be said when tracking his man from a centre-forward position. In this example against Newcastle United, Alexander Isak drifts across to the right flank to receive a pass from Jacob Murphy — who is being closed down by Kerkez.
Staying touch-tight, Huijsen is not afraid to pull away from his left centre-back position to avert any threat by nipping in ahead of Isak and put the ball out for a throw-in.
Those touch-tight actions are crucial to shutting down promising opposition attacks, but Huijsen's youthful exuberance might need to be channelled a little.
Getting too tight to experienced opposition strikers leaves you at risk of getting pinned or rolled as a centre-back. Forwards are likely to cotton onto Huijsen's front-foot defending and will look to exploit the space he leaves behind him.
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Take this example against the Netherlands. As the ball is fired into Depay, Huijsen jumps from his position in Spain's back line to intercept the pass. However, Depay uses his body excellently to protect the ball — spinning into space and lofting a pass into the onrushing Tijjani Reijnders to attack the gap that Huijsen has vacated.
A stronger sense of judgement will come with greater experience, but the confidence and bravery that Huijsen exudes are trusted traits that are admired by his club manager.
'His mentality, his head,' Iraola said of Huijsen's best attributes this month. 'He's confident. He is not afraid of marking any forward and he's calm on the ball.'
'He knows what he's doing, he's under control. Sometimes he will make mistakes like all the others, but there is always a reason for the things he does. And for someone that is 19, it's really strange to find this at this level.'
Rarer still at such an age is Huijsen's unique blend of physicality and cultured in-possession play, as comfortable competing in tough defensive duels as he is striding into midfield with the ball at his feet. Add in an expansive — and genuinely two-footed — passing range, and the appeal is clear to see.
The centre-back rarely hesitates when the space opens up ahead, always looking for the chance to glide past the first line of pressure and into midfield. It's another trait we saw on his first start for Spain, as he receives a pass below from holding midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who has dropped between the two centre-backs to allow them to push wide.
Huijsen's first touch is positive, opening his body and pushing the ball ahead, before easing away from chasing club colleague Justin Kluivert with long steps into midfield. It's a driving run that forces the Dutch back and allows Huijsen to set Marc Cucurella away down the flank.
Barely four minutes later, and a similar move unfolds, as Huijsen breezes around the outside of the first line of the 4-4-2 defensive shape once again.
This time, his impressive passing range comes to the fore, sliding a perfectly-weighted through pass into Williams' path.
Taking one defender out of the game with his initial burst, before breaking two lines with a pass and creating a chance — all within five seconds of receiving the ball in his own half — this was an eye-catching display of Huijsen's natural ability to move the ball forward with purpose and penetration.
Much like his appetite for an interception, Huijsen's commanding presence on the ball is appreciated at club level, by a manager who respects the disruptive power of a marauding run from deep.
'I sometimes value much more a player carrying the ball and forcing things to happen', Iraola explained an interview with the Independent in January, 'When you play too positional — one, two touches to find a free man — you sometimes lose the initiative from the players to just take their man on and attack the spaces.'
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That freedom allows Huijsen to step forward with the ball more than most of his positional peers. As we can see from the scatterplot below, only three Premier League centre-backs have played a higher proportion of progressive passes this season, while just five carry the ball out of defence more regularly than the Bournemouth man.
Such fearlessness in possession, aged 19, and in your first full season of senior football, is absolutely not the norm.
Being positive and forward-thinking is one thing, but Huijsen usually has the quality to back it up. He can sometimes be too eager to force the issue — he is stranger to an overhit pass — but of the 17 Premier League players to have attempted at least 150 long passes this season, only four have a higher success rate.
More importantly, Huijsen can pick out forward runs on both feet. His assist for Lamine Yamal against the Netherlands showcased his favoured sand wedge technique on his right, pitching the ball over the defensive line with an accurate, lofted ball.
19-year-old Huijsen with the pass 🎯
17-year-old Yamal with the finish 🪄#NationsLeague | @SEFutbol pic.twitter.com/CIeCVUqZvO
— UEFA EURO (@UEFAEURO) March 25, 2025
On his opposite side, Huijsen produced the following ball in for Bournemouth centre-forward Evanilson, again dropping into the wide space on the outside of the holding midfielder — this time Tyler Adams.
In frame two, he advances beyond the first line of pressure, but this time faces a much deeper Brentford block, with five players across the back line.
Huijsen continues probing, until he reaches the edge of the box and curls in a back-post cross with his left foot, only to be denied an assist by a point-blank save.
Go to press Huijsen, and he can skip through the pressure and attack the spaces in midfield. Sit off him, and he's still capable of threading through that killer ball.
It's no wonder that some of Europe's top clubs are on high alert.
In the Premier League, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Arsenal have been linked, while Bayern Munich and Real Madrid have also been closely monitoring his progress on the continent. The Athletic's David Ornstein reported that a move is expected in the summer, with a £50million ($64.8m) release clause in his contract with Bournemouth.
Could the 19-year-old make the big step up at such a tender age? If his progress is any indication, there's every reason to believe Huijsen would take it all in his (very long) stride.