The Spanish federation has secured one of the most promising centre-backs on the European scene for the next five years. This is Dean Huijsen, Roma’s Dutch central defender on loan from Juventus. His name appears published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Tuesday with the granting of Spanish nationality.
Born in 2005 in Amsterdam but raised on the Costa del Sol since he was five years old, Huijsen has finally opted for his host country and will be able to be selected by Spain from the next national team break, in March. The idea is that the 18-year-old defender receives the call from Santi Denia for the under-21 team. However, if his evolution continues to be meteoric as at the start of 2024, it would not be surprising to see him in the senior team sooner rather than later.
The bureaucratic procedures have ended just a few hours after his name appeared in all the highlights of last weekend. Despite it not being his main virtue, Huijsen sent his letter of introduction with a great goal against Frosinone: cutting in the center of the field, driving with class surrounded by rivals to the front of the area and a tight shot to score the first goal of the afternoon for the Giallorossi.
The sensational action was only marred by a sin of youth. After celebrating the goal in Cristiano Ronaldo style, he silenced the crowd. This cost him the yellow card and the subsequent anger of Daniele De Rossi, who decided to replace him at half-time. He cures humility for the central tall man (197 cm).
Until that moment, Benito Stirpe had insistently dedicated his whistles to Huijsen, still unaccustomed to dealing with this type of situation. The reason is that in the winter market he had everything tied up with Frosinone… until José Mourinho appeared at the last minute. Roma were in great need of men in the rearguard – they played with a defense of three and had many casualties – and it was the Portuguese coach who convinced him to travel to the capital to sign for his team at that time until the end of the season. It was Mou’s last great service before being dismissed.
“It is one of the highest quality projects in European football,” said the one from Setúbal on the day of Huijsen’s presentation. With a background of only 10 minutes in Serie A, Mourinho already gave him the alternative in the first match against Atalanta. It was a demanding match and in his debut in the second half he caused very good feelings. He stood out above all for his elegance and serenity when launching the ball and his reliability when cutting.
In the next game he started, no less than in a Cup derby against Lazio. He committed the penalty that would ultimately lead to Roma’s elimination, although that action did not affect his game. He showed his personality and continued to have opportunities, also with De Rossi on the bench. In total he has played nine games between the League and the Cup -he is not registered for the Europa League-, with two goals already to his credit.
With the change to the defense of four and the recovery of all the centre-backs – Huijsen himself, Mancini and Diego Llorente accompany them and Ndicka, who has returned from the African Cup, and Smalling, recovered from a long injury – the minutes will be now more distributed, but no one doubts that Huijsen will continue to have a leading role despite his young age. It is assumed that next summer, once the loan ends, he will become a member of Juve’s first team. He has a contract until 2028.
Huijsen moved with his family to Marbella once his father, Dony – a footballer with a modest career but trained at Ajax alongside Kluivert and Seedorf – hung up his boots. He spent six years in the Málaga youth academy and as a cadet he trained with the first team. It was in the summer of 2021 when he went to Turin to make the leap into the elite.
The young defender, who had represented the Netherlands at youth level, has finally decided to continue his international career with Spain. It is not an isolated case. In La Roja, Aymeric Laporte and Robin Le Normand have been nationalized in recent years. His case is different because, unlike the French, the French were interested in him defending his country.
