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He is surely one of the most exciting prospects in the game – José Mourinho said as much around this time last year – but to many Dean Huijsen is just a Chill Guy. Last month the 19-year-old celebrated his first Bournemouth goal, against Tottenham, by mimicking the popular meme of a human-like dog smirking with paws in pockets, and then did the same a couple of weeks later after opening the scoring in a resounding win at Old Trafford.
A TikTok clip of Huijsen imitating the image, posted by Bournemouth, has been viewed 11m times. “I’ve always been a pretty relaxed person, pretty chilled,” Huijsen says. “I think I am pretty calm on the ball, I make my decisions and I don’t get too panicked. I thought it would be a nice celebration but didn’t expect it to go so viral. I just thought it would be funny – I guess people liked it.”
Huijsen’s demeanour, on and off the pitch, is in keeping with that character. Last weekend, in a crushing 4-1 victory at Newcastle that extended Bournemouth’s unbeaten run to 11 matches in all competitions (a club-record 10 in the Premier League), he successfully muted Alexander Isak, and there are times where he appears so comfortable he may as well sink his hands into his pockets.
Little has flustered Huijsen on his journey to this point, whether playing up front for Costa Unida CF de Marbella as a child, making his Juventus debut at San Siro aged 18 or rejecting Real Madrid two years earlier in favour of a move to Serie A. “Italy is renowned for producing defenders and being the school of defending,” he says. “I saw that in my time there and that’s what I wanted to do, to develop myself overall as a defender. I learned a lot. Little things: how to position yourself, how to mark in the area, where to stand when a cross is coming in, how to run diagonally backwards … a bit of everything.
“They really do work on the defence there and I learned a lot from the managers, assistants and from watching videos. I’m really glad I made that decision. Obviously [Real] Madrid is a great club, it is close to home, but at the time it was the best decision for me to make. I feel like it’s worked well.”
Huijsen’s family moved from the Netherlands to Spain when he was five and last year he pledged his allegiance to the latter despite representing the former from under-16s to under-19s.
“My home is Spain. If I have some days off or holidays, I’m going home to Spain. I feel more Spanish than I feel Dutch,” he says. “It’s my country, I’ve grown up there, so it made sense and it is just what felt right to me.”
He takes everything in his stride, including a question about appearing to rewrite the rules of being a centre-half; Huijsen wears black gloves, short sleeves and his socks at half-mast. “The socks, I’ve just had them like that ever since I was little, it’s not for any reason but just routine, really,” he says. “The gloves, I’m coming from Spain so I’m pretty cold in England. When I play only my hands get really cold so I don’t like to wear an undershirt, so I just have the gloves with short sleeves.”
There is another aspect to his goal celebration, too, a nod to his parents, Donny and Mascha, and older brothers, Donny and Daimen. “I have only one tattoo,” he says, peeling back his jumper to reveal the “D” on his right wrist. “Myself, my brothers’ and my dad’s names all start with a D and we all got the same tattoo about 18 months ago. So I kiss the D and then I make an M with my hands for my mum. I was back home and we decided it would be nice if we did it.”
The 6ft 5in Huijsen oozes the kind of confidence Bournemouth noted when they went through a presentation with him during talks last summer, featuring clips detailing their history and philosophy under Andoni Iraola, their impressive head coach. Huijsen made it plain in those conversations that he felt his aggressive, front-foot style would make Bournemouth the perfect destination. Iraola and his staff have been particularly impressed with his maturity, mentality and reading of the game. “We have some great players and I could see the potential when I was looking at the club and at the team last summer,” the Spain under-21 defender says.
Huijsen, one half of the youngest centre-back pairing in the division alongside Illia Zabarnyi, is easy-going but relishes big games because he “loves having a challenge”. Saturday’s visit of Nottingham Forest falls into that bracket, a meeting between seventh and third, unlikely Champions League contenders both promoted only three seasons ago.
It is arguably the game of the weekend and one between two of the most in-form teams in the division; only Forest (25) have won more points across the past 10 matches than Bournemouth (22). “I think it will be a great game and hopefully we can finish as high up the table as possible,” Huijsen says. “We’re doing well and I think we can qualify for Europe. We have the quality and the potential.
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“Who wouldn’t want to play in Europe? I think everyone would like that. It would go down in the history of the club. It would be great for all of the players, fans and everyone involved. I think it is realistic with how we are playing. We are 10 games unbeaten – hopefully 11 on Saturday – and we are doing well and all of the stats show that it’s not just luck and we deserve to be here. We just need to keep on working hard, stay humble and continue proving ourselves.”
One of the more rewarding tests for Huijsen as a boy was taking on his two brothers at football tennis at home in Andalucía. “During the summer my brothers would work during the day, at an inflatable water park, and when they got home in the evening we would always play from like 8pm until 11pm,” he remembers. “Myself and my dad would always play against my brothers, who are both six years older than me. They would bet the money they made that day and I was like 10 years old, so I didn’t have anything [to stake]. But we were always winning the games, so myself and my dad were always winning the money every day. I don’t think it was much fun for my brothers in the end.”
Huijsen’s father, a former forward, played for Ajax alongside Patrick Kluivert, whose son Justin became a teammate when Huijsen signed from Juventus in a £12.9m deal last summer. The pair have talked over lunch about both representing Roma, though they did not overlap there, as well as their fathers. “They played together but I think Justin’s dad was better than my dad,” Huijsen says with a smile. “Our dads know each other but also our mums know each other from back in the day, from seeing each other around Amsterdam. Justin is a great guy and a great player.”
Mourinho worked only briefly with Huijsen but the teenager made a big impression. “José was great even though I wasn’t with him for too long. He was really good to me and he gave me an opportunity and I’ll always be grateful for that. He believed in me and I think someone that big believing in you is very special, especially for a young guy coming through. For someone that big to say what he said is really special and it only gives you confidence as a player.”
It was at Roma last year where Huijsen enjoyed his first sustained run of senior minutes – he scored against Frosinone after waltzing forward from halfway – after a sole senior appearance for Juve, at Milan. Twelve months earlier Huijsen had been in the stands when Milan defeated Juve. “I was living in Turin at the time and it was like an hour-and-a-half drive. Myself and my parents went to watch because we wanted to see the San Siro, and it was obviously a great atmosphere and a big game,” he says. “ My parents were there again when I played and I think I made them proud. Even though I’m 19 I feel like I’ve experienced a lot and that helps my game. I don’t really feel like a ‘young’ player.”
The visit of Forest will also provide Huijsen with a handy personal barometer. It was at Forest in August where he impressed on his Bournemouth debut, his block to prevent Morgan Gibbs-White potentially scoring a late winner a sign of things to come.
“I was saying to my dad that I’m really looking forward to it to see how I’ve progressed,” Huijsen says. “I remember that day, I was really up for it. But I think I’ve improved and hopefully it will be a great game.”
