Dean Huijsen had saved his penalty in Bournemouth's FA Cup Shoot-out victory on Wolves last weekend, but it was no surprise for those who worked with him that the 19-year-old center-back was willing to act as one of their first Takers.
“He has so much ambition and belief in himself about scoring goals,” says Juan Jesus Gutierrez Robles, his former coach in Malaga's U16S, to Sky Sports. “He is probably not a finisher as good as he thinks he is, but he has so much confidence and always believes that he can do it.
“You see that a lot in strikers, but it is very rare in center backs and it is not something you can learn. You have it or you don't. He has had it since he was a child. It is one of his biggest strengths.”
Of course it did not help him on this occasion, but the match against Wolves was another to emphasize the formidable attacking threat of players who earn a reputation as one of the best young defenders in Europe. Huijsen had five shots and created a total of three chances. He had more accents in the opposition box than anyone else.
It is not unusual to see Huijsen in the middle of the Target Mouth promotion.
He gave one of the determining images of the Bournemouth season in December when he mimics the popular 'Chill Guy' -Meme, hands in shorts, after he had led his first Premier League goal against Tottenham, the team with which he is again confronted with Super Sunday. Two weeks after that goal, he marked another cup of goal against Manchester United in the same style.
There are not many teenage centers backs that even play at the highest level in Europe, such as the tactical demands of the position. There is still less known for characteristic parties.
But then Huijsen has always been a little different than the rest. And the feeling of scoring is not new to him.
“He scored 12 goals in half a season and played for our U15s. As a centerback,” adds Robles, a former midfielder who is known as Juanito who played for Malaga himself before coaching in their academy.
“He wasted his time with that team, frankly. He was so superior. His mother once called me and said he cried because he did not understand why he was still asked to play for them instead of playing all his games with us in the higher age groups.”
Huijsen did not stay in Malaga Long and moved from Spain to Italy to become a member of Juventus at the age of 16 – his career path, just like his target threat, reflects his ambitious personality – but his scoring performance continued.
He was productive in the sides of Juventus and scored 10 goals in the 2022/23 campaign, including three out of six games in the UEFA Youth League, the U19 equivalent of the Champions League. Later he found it just twice in 14 senior performances on loan near Roma.
“They are not only goals of set pieces,” Juanito adds. “If you look at the goals he scored for Juventus and Roma, you see that a lot came from outside the area.”
The last of them scored a few months before Roma against Frosinon before his move to Bournemouth in July, Huijsen saw dribbling from the halfway through the line and curls in a stunning attempt from outside the box.
He has to produce something spectacular for the side of Andoni Iraola, but his total can easily be higher than two.
He was refused on Saturday by a controversial VAR call against Wolves. Earlier this season he hit the bar against Brentford and also went close to Everton and Fulham.
“He intends to score and that is what helps him to do it,” says Juanito. “Of course it is also long. But being long often means that you are more difficult because you are marked by the best defenders. Dean just has so much determination that it doesn't matter.
“I am sure there will be years in which he scores seven or eight, and there are few center backs in the world that can do that. Sergio Ramos was one. Fernando Hierro also scored a lot for Real Madrid. But there are very few.”
Huijsen Verafgood Ramos grow up and he is certainly known to Real Madrid. In Malaga, Juanito remembers a scrum of interest from the top clubs of Spain for his move to Juventus. “He noticed so much. Real Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Villarreal … They all wanted him.”
But Huijsen and his family felt a move to Italy offered a better chance to develop his defensive game. “He decided to take another step and I think it was a good decision,” Juanito adds.
Now it is Bournemouth who feels the benefits.
Pinto helps to secure the signing of the bargains
Jose Mourinho, the head coach of Roma during his loan spell there, described Huijsen as one of the best prospects in Europe and he made an equally strong impression on Tiago Pinto, the president of Bournemouth's President of Football Operations, who at the time worked as general manager of Roma.
Just like Mourinho, Pinto was hit by Huijsen's adulthood, in addition to his many other qualities. His first -hand experience to work with him, Bournemouth gave invaluable insight, especially given the work on which he could judge him at senior level, was still limited.
The Huijsen born in Amsterdam was regularly seen for the youth teams of the Netherlands before switching to Spain, which he represented at U21 level. But he had only made one earlier top level for Juventus before his 14-game saying at Roma.
Despite his relative inexperience, Huijsen was able to quickly adapt in Bournemouth, who quickly came out as one of the signing sessions of the season with a first £ 12.8 million. He is considered pleasure to work with by teammates and coaches and his adulthood and target threat are only parts of his offer.
Huijsen is in third place in the Premier League for interceptions per 90 minutes, as a result of his ability to read danger, and sixth for blocks. His progressive passing, both feet, and over short and long distances, has actively proven. “I can't think of center-backs that use both both feet and him,” says Juanito.
Bournemouth was impressed by his ability to impose himself defensively, even against many older players in the Serie A and he supported the same aggression in the Premier League, which would have a bigger responsibility, because the suspension of Illia Zabarnyi left him as their only Fit Center-back.
For all this, however, they had to convince him of the merits to become a member of a club with a relatively low profile. They have put together their business in a presentation that was performed almost during the negotiations, with the sketched the front playing style implemented by Iraola and Huijsen's suitability on it.
They also explained how they were planning to use him, although that process was accelerated after colleague-center-back Roberto Senesi had to operate on a thigh injury in November.
Since then, Huijsen has started 17 consecutive games in all competitions, most of the equally impressive Zabarnyi. Respectively 19 and 22 years old, they form a center-back combination that is six years younger than the Premier League average, in a team that is one of the most youthful people in the division.
Watchers will certainly come forward for Huijsen. There have already been interest in Real Madrid and Liverpool. But he has a six -year contract in the Vitality Stadium and the capacity for further growth is clear. Bournemouth is fighting for a European finish and is only three points behind the fifth placed Chelsea.
Regardless of what happens next, the success of Huijsen, together with other signing sessions such as Milos Kerkez, Zabarnyi, Dango Ouattara and Alex Scott, has already improved the attractiveness of the club as a destination for young players with a high potential.
A defender built for the elite
Still a month shy for his 20th birthday, Huijsen is about as high potential as they come.
He discussed the importance of the defensive education he received in Italy. Mourinho was an influential figure and he has made even greater progress under Iraola. In the end, however, he and his family were the greatest drivers behind his journey to this point.
“His physical and technical characteristics were clear in Malaga, but what was most striking about him was the determination and ambition he had about footballer,” says Juanito. “I had rarely seen that level of determination in a player.
“It is not only that he wants it, it is that he has done absolutely everything to achieve it. He trains better than anyone else, he prepares better than anyone else, he corrects his mistakes better than anyone.”
The role of his parents was the key. “His father has not saved any costs to help his son become a football player,” Juanito adds. “He bought a camera to record it and analyze his mistakes. Everything. He worked so hard, but his family prepared him well from a young age.”
Throughout the level of care and attention to detail, it was chosen to choose his clubs. “The normal for a child would have been here to become a member of Madrid or Barcelona, ​​but he was clear that he wanted to go to Italy to improve his defense,” Juanito adds. “The following was to play, so he went to Roma.
“Many people here did not understand why he chose Bournemouth afterwards, but that is only because they are not known. I think it was a good decision, because if you look at his game now, the only thing he might miss, speed. And the only place where he can add that kind of speed to his game is the Premier League.
“He could handle the speed of the Italian competition. He could have treated the speed of the Spanish competition. The Premier League was the only place where he could suffer and therefore improve.”
Huijsen has hardly suffered. At 19, there is of course room for improvement in certain areas. But in his pass he took on the enormous challenges of Premier League football, his interest in Iraola Clear in the number of minutes he played.
His immediate family continues to support him after joining him in England. His father Donny, herself a former player in the Netherlands, and mother Mascha attends every Bournemouth match.
Eight months later, the signing was brilliantly worked out for all parties and his ceiling continues to grow. “He now looks like a player who has everything, but remember that he is still a child,” says Juanito. “I have no doubt that he will be one of the best center backs in the world in the next 10 years.”
It is a vision that is shared by many, in Bournemouth and beyond. Expect many more goals and striking versions.