Dean Huijsen is the latest player to seemingly become embroiled in a transfer tug-of-war between Liverpool and Real Madrid, but will it have the same outcome as a few previous instalments?
Both on and off the pitch, Los Blancos have been the scourge of the Reds in recent years. Since 2018 we’ve lost two Champions League finals to the Spanish giants and been knocked out of the tournament by them on two other occasions (not to mention a 3-0 thrashing at Anfield in 2014).
The Bernabeu side also won the transfer races for Aurelien Tchouameni and Jude Bellingham desite prolonged interest from LFC, and of course they now look set to snare Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer, just as they did with Steve McManaman in 1999.
Huijsen wanted by both Liverpool and Real Madrid
Huijsen’s Bournemouth teammate Justin Kluivert said this week that the 19-year-old won’t be with the Cherries next season, while Fabrizio Romano has outlined that Liverpool have made contact regarding a potential swoop for the teenage centre-back.
However, Spanish media outlet AS reported on Tuesday that Real Madrid are ready to spend €50m (41.7m) to sign the defender, whose father shared an article to his Instagram story (subsequently deleted) which displayed the print version of that report.
Will the lure of Real Madrid be too good for Huijsen to turn down?
Obviously it’d be jumping the gun to deduce that the newly-capped Spain international is definitely going to the Bernabeu just because of his dad’s social media activity, but it nonetheless feels like a telling clue from Huijsen senior.
The 19-year-old indicated that he was humbled by the links with Real Madrid, and it’s noteworthy that he opted to play for Spain despite being born in the Netherlands, who ironically provided the opposition for his senior debut for the European champions last week.
As we’ve seen with Tchouameni, Bellingham and now Trent, when Los Blancos want a player they usually tend to get them, and history suggests that Liverpool may need to instigate quite the charm offensive to persuade the Bournemouth defender to choose them over Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
The Reds might be in a stronger position than usual to try and entice Huijsen, though, with Arne Slot’s team on course to win the Premier League (thus proving their ability to win major silverware) and also set to have a major centre-back void when Virgil van Dijk goes, either this summer if he doesn’t renew his contract or in the coming years as our captain (34 in July) approaches the twilight of his career.
Maybe there was nothing more to his father’s Instagram activity than pride in seeing his son being linked with Real Madrid. That’s what the Anfield hierarchy may well be hoping if they’re to avoid yet more misery at the hands of Los Blancos.
