Who is Dean Huijsen? The Juventus defensive prospect set to sign for Bournemouth

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Set to sign 

Bournemouth are set to continue their impressive summer spending spree with the imminent arrival of Juventus central defender Dean Huijsen. Following the arrival of Luis Sinisterra, Enes Ünal and Alex Paulsen, the 19-year-old talent will reportedly take the Premier League club’s spending in the current transfer window to around €60 million in total. According to Fabrizio Romano, Huijsen will make the move from Turin to the English south coast in a deal worth around €18m, with Juventus hoping to profit from sell-on clauses in the future. 

D. Huijsen

Centre-Back

Juventus

?

Bournemouth

Serie A

Premier League

Huijsen will be no stranger to well-versed Premier League fans, having already been linked with moves to Liverpool and Newcastle in 2024 alone. Born in Amsterdam but having grown up in Spain, the young talent has made a name for himself after coming through the Juventus youth academy and moving out on loan to Roma last season. Now it would seem that the next chapter of his career will take him to England, so who is Huijsen and how good is he?

How well has Dean Huijsen done in Serie A?

As previously noted, Huijsen came through the Juventus youth academy and made 70 appearances for the club’s youth teams. The defender only featured in one senior game for the “Old Lady” last season, before agreeing to join Roma on loan. And since then the young talent has impressed with the step up to senior football. “It was a bit surprising that Roma wanted him for the rest of the season,” said Transfermarkt Serie A expert Jatin Dietl when asked about Huijsen’s performances last season. “A previously agreed loan to Frosinone would have been the more logical step. Before that he only had a few games in Juventus’ second team in the third division. But who could say no if José Mourinho calls? But even under new coach Daniele De Rossi he still got minutes. He only played like two or three games from the beginning, but he was an important option from the bench. He made some defensive mistakes, but has also shown his ability to score goals.”

Of course, Bournemouth fans will be far more interested in the player Huijsen could one day become rather than the performances he showed last season at Roma. However, as Dietl notes, the young defender may have been more suited to a few more seasos in Italy before he was ready for a top Premier League side. “He was not (yet) at the level to be a starter for a club like Roma,” said Dietl. “But he has a lot of potential and extremely good technique for a central defender. Sometimes at Roma he even played in midfield. He’s very elegant but he lacks experience in one-v-one defensive situations and he also has to grow physically to adapt to the higher requirements of top level football. So I would say it would be an investment in the future, but if he develops well he can become a very good modern defender.”