ITALY: Dean Huijsen (April 14, 2005, Amsterdam) is one of the most promising central defenders that Juventus has in its youth system. A new De Ligt. Huijsen, raised in Marbella with his family, played in the lower categories of Málaga until Juventus arrived in the summer of 2021 and took him to Italian lands.
“At the age of 10, I entered the Málaga youth academy. I grew up in Spain. We always went on vacation to Marbella with my family, then my parents found work there and we stayed. As a child I played in the attack, then they lowered me in defense. As a youth, I played in several tournaments against big clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Juventus. He also trained with the first team. A Juventus coach came to our house in Spain to present his project to me, then I went to Turin with my parents to see the facilities, the training center… ”, Huijsen said in an interview with the Dutch medium Voetbalzone.
Juventus got ahead of other Spanish clubs and took the Spanish-Dutch pearl. “Real Madrid also wanted me, but I also preferred to go to Italy because it is a great school for defenders. At first, it was difficult, I was not used to such hard training. Then I learned the language and started playing with the Under-17s, then I only spent two months with the Under-19s because it went better than expected and I’ve been with the Under-23s for two months (in Serie C). Allegri made me train with the first team alongside the players I only saw in video games. They are all top players, but Dybala particularly impressed me, he is really very good. I also marked Vlahovic, Chiesa… So it was quite difficult, ”explained the adoptive man from Malaga. The central defender is one of the homegrown players for whom Allegri has the most hope. He is the undisputed starter in the Juventino team that plays in Serie C.
Huijsen is currently playing with the Netherlands but in the future, he may opt for Spain, at the moment he is not contemplating it as he acknowledges in Voetbalzone: “ Van Dijk is very strong one on one and has an extraordinary physique. My idol has always been Sergio Ramos. Even though we lost the final, it was great to play in the European Under-17 Championship with the Dutch team. Theoretically, he could also play for Spain, but at the moment I don’t think so and I play for the Netherlands. I was born in Amsterdam and my favorite team is Ajax ”.
