Why Juventus Cannot Afford To Repeat The Dean Huijsen Mistake Again

Juventus have rightly been widely criticised for ignoring the quality of Dean Huijsen, looking on as the young defender signed for Real Madrid just 10 months after being sold by the Turin giants.

Any number of analysts and pundits – as well as former players and coaches – have weighed in on the subject, asking how a player of such obvious quality managed to play just 12 minutes for the Juve first team.

“I am surprised that Juventus didn’t see the clear potential of the boy,” Fabio Capello – who managed both Juve and Real Madrid told La Gazzetta dello Sport this week. “Huijsen didn’t just suddenly become good. If he’s playing for Real Madrid at 20, he’s surely good enough for Juventus.”

Dean Huijsen’s three-year spell at Juventus

Indeed, it should have been incredibly obvious that Huijsen was an emerging talent. Juventus signed the Málaga youth product back in 2021. Impressing in the Bianconeri academy, he was sent to represent the club’s Next Gen team in Italian football’s third tier in January 2023.

Quickly rewarded with a new contract, Huijsen made his first team debut in October 2023. Introduced as a 78th-minute substitute in a 1-0 win over AC Milan at San Siro should be the start of a story of Juve’s next great defender, but rather than follow in the illustrious footsteps of Gaetano Scirea, Andrea Barzagli or Giorgio Chiellini, he would never be given a second chance.

Instead, just three months after that maiden outing, Huijsen was sent on loan to AS Roma. Then boss Daniele De Rossi would not make the same mistake as Juve, handing the youngster his debut the very next day with the 6ft 5” (1.96m) defender making an immediate impact.

Going on to make 14 appearances for the Giallorossi, he would return to Juventus at the end of the season amid promises of a regular run in the first team under new boss Thiago Motta. But the club would quickly renege on those plans, seeking to cash in on the emerging talent rather than using Huijsen to plug some very obvious gaps in their own ailing backline.

Leaving Juventus for the Premier League

“Did Juventus treat me badly? Maybe,” Huijsen told Marca recently. “I went on loan to Roma, then came back, and I can understand that they wanted to sell me. But I arrived on the first day after the summer break, and they told me I had to leave, though they said they wouldn’t force me.

“And then, yes, they did force me. They made me train alone and things like that. It was a bit unpleasant, especially since I had been there for three years, since the U17s, and I just wanted a chance with Juve’s first team.

“The truth is that football is sometimes tough. Was I a little sad, angry? Yes. But the situation didn’t change, and that’s how it is. If they thought I was a good opportunity for a sale, then I accepted it.”

Clearly that was the opinion of Cristiano Giuntoli, who has since lost his job as Juve’s Sporting Director. Thiago Motta is gone too, with the pair spending far more money on central defenders than they made from selling Huijsen to Bournemouth for €15.2 million ($17.90 million).

A disaster of epic proportions for Juventus

Since pocketing that money from the Premier League side, Juve have signed Pierre Kalulu from AC Milan (a total of €17.3 million/$20.38 million), Juan Cabal from Hellas Verona (€12.8 million/$15.08 million) and Lloyd Kelly from Newcastle United for €20 million ($23.55 million).

With a further €4 million ($4.71 million) handed to Chelsea to take Renato Veiga on a six-month loan, the total amount Juve have spent on central defenders since selling Huijsen stands at €54.1 million ($63.72 million).

Meanwhile, Huijsen has gone from strength to strength. After 36 appearances for Bournemouth and making his international debut for Spain, Real Madrid have paid an incredible €59.5 million ($70.08 million) to sign him, meaning the Cherries have made a €44.3 million ($52.17 million) profit.

It has echoes of a very similar mistake made with Cristian Romero. Signed from Genoa, the Argentina international never played a single minute for Juventus before was loaned to Atalanta for €2 million ($2.36 million) with an option to sign him outright for a further €16 million ($18.84 million) back in 2020.

Romero was named Serie A’s Defender of the Year for an excellent 12 months in Bergamo, the club exercising their right to buy him only to immediately sell him to Tottenham for €50 million ($58.89 million).

Yet Juventus clearly failed to improve their process and have repeated the same errors in judgement. As discussed in this previous column, a combination of injuries to Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal and Federico Gatti left Juventus to face Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup with Kelly – who has been a huge flop – alongside proven failure Daniele Rugani.

That would be painful enough, but to lose to the Spanish giants fielding a player they gave up must be a major lesson for the Serie A side, who need to learn to recognise elite level talent when they have it in front of them.

Selling Dean Huijsen was a mistake that Juventus can never repeat.