There is barely a club in Europe who can claim not to have been trumped by the mighty Real Madrid in the transfer market, and Liverpool are no different.
The Premier League giants lost Xabi Alonso to the lure of the Santiago Bernabeu just as Rafael Benitez appeared to be on the verge of crafting a title-winning team.
Trent Alexander-Arnold looks set for Real Madrid now too, the West Derby-born right-back hoping to emulate Alonso’s silver-coated success at the reigning European champions.
And as Dean Huijsen openly flirts with Carlo Ancelotti’s Los Blancos outfit – the AFC Bournemouth defender quizzed on his future by the Spanish press this week – it appears that arguably the most exciting central defender on Liverpool’s summer wishlist might yet find himself sharing a dressing room with Trent next term.
In Madrid, however, rather than Merseyside.
Dean Huijsen flirts with Real Madrid transfer amid Liverpool interest
According to reports, Liverpool started talks with Bournemouth starlet Dean Huijsen a few weeks back.
One of the revelations of the 2024/25 Premier League season, Huijsen is a footballer well known to Anfield chief Richard Hughes.
Liverpool’s sporting director arrived from the Vitality Stadium over the summer. Hughes not only has connections to Bournemouth, he also presumably played a role in laying the foundations for Huijsen’s £12.8 million switch to the South Coast from Juventus last summer.
Two-footed but often fielded on the left of Andoni Iraola’s centre-back pairing, while Liverpool look set to tie Virgil van Dijk down to a new deal, the 19-year-old Spain international had all the makings of an excellent long-term successor.
Speaking to El Chiringuito, however, Huijsen not only seemed to confirm the presence of a rumoured £50 million release clause in his contract, the Amsterdam-born giant also left the door very much ajar for Real Madrid to make their move.
“We’ll see. [Real Madrid] is a big team,” Huijsen says coyly, albeit while naming Real icon Sergio Ramos as his idol “Every player wants to play at the maximum [level] possible. I have a contract until 2030. I do have a [release] clause.
“I think [Ancelotti] is a very good coach. He’s not at Madrid for nothing. He has his merit.”
Could Liverpool be facing another Jude Bellingham situation
Liverpool famously decided against stumping up for Jude Bellingham back in 2023, despite suggestions that the all-action Englishman was the club’s number one target at the time.
Eventually joining Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund for an initial £88 million, The Guardian say that Liverpool walked away because they could not justify investing so much of their budget on one player.
Only time will tell whether they have the same reservations about another Real target in Huijsen.
£50 million for a teenage centre-half is a considerable sum, of course. But, in terms of the former Roma loanee’s longevity and considerable potential, it could also prove to be an investment worth every single penny in the long-run.
Regardless of that Van Dijk boost, Liverpool are expected to be in the market for a new central defender this summer.
Joe Gomez has endured another injury-interrupted season, while it remains to be seen whether 22-year-old Jarell Quansah is the real deal or someone destined to fall just short of the required level.
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