“Man, I love Dean Huijsen” are the words every Real Madrid fan has been saying lately. Huijsen arrived in Madrid only last month, but the way he plays makes it seem as if he has been a devoted regular for years.
Huijsen is so much more than your usual defender. Not only does he defend brilliantly, but he also creates so much right from his position. So much so that fans have started calling him the Toni Kroos of defenders. He is just that good and special
Against WSG Tirol, Huijsen played 77 minutes, but the impact he left remained even after he went off.
These Dean Huijsen stats scream Toni Kroos playing in defense
I am not going to speak much in favour of the boy and will instead let his numbers do the talking. Remember how every Toni Kroos performance used to feature a constant passing accuracy of over 90 percent? Huijsen is exactly like that.
Against Tirol, according to SofaScore, Huijsen recorded a 94 percent passing accuracy, completing 109 out of 116 attempted passes. And a simple visual of the way Huijsen plays would tell you that these are not casual sideways passes but smart, penetrating forward balls that effortlessly break the opponent’s lines, just the way Toni Kroos used to do.
Huijsen also completed 13 of 16 attempted long balls, and if you have forgotten, let me remind you that these numbers belong to a centre-back, not an attacking midfielder.
The 20-year-old has played only a couple of games for Madrid, and I have not seen him commit any major mistake other than the red card in the FIFA World Cup. He is almost flawless both in his conduct and from a sporting perspective.
Madrid paid a hefty fee for Huijsen’s signing from Bournemouth, but hear me out, let’s send a few million more, because this is a bargain that Real Madrid have got their hands on. Top-class player, top-class signing.