Dean Huijsen Embraces No. 4 at Real Madrid: A Dream Realized

At Real Madrid, some numbers are just ink and fabric. The No. 4 is not one of them.

Dean Huijsen has chosen it with his eyes wide open. The young centre-back confirmed he will wear the historic shirt next season, describing it as the realisation of a childhood dream that always led back to one name: Sergio Ramos.

According to Marca, Huijsen spoke openly about how deeply that number is woven into his story. As a boy, he laced up Ramos’ famous “SR4” boots, copying every movement of the defender who became a monument at the Santiago Bernabéu and a giant of the modern game. Now, the imitation stops and the responsibility begins.

“I hope it brings you many joys too.”

For Huijsen, that blessing comes from the man who turned the No. 4 into a symbol of defiance, leadership and late goals on the biggest nights in Europe.

But this is not just about one idol. Huijsen made a point of widening the lens to another pillar of Madrid’s defensive history: Fernando Hierro. The connection is personal. They share roots from the same region, a detail Huijsen has admitted makes the weight of the shirt feel even heavier, and even more precious. To follow a line that runs through Hierro and Ramos is to step into a demanding lineage, not a marketing choice.

He also refused to overlook the most recent guardian of the number, David Alaba. Huijsen has lived that reference point from inside the dressing room. Training and playing alongside the Austrian, he has watched at close quarters the qualities that defined Alaba’s time in white: a meticulous professional, a vocal leader, a teammate constantly ready to support those around him. For a young defender, there are worse tutorials than Hierro in the archives, Ramos in the imagination and Alaba at arm’s length.

So Huijsen knows exactly what he has signed up for. This is not a romantic whim, but a calculated acceptance of pressure. He publicly thanked the club, the board, the coaching staff, his teammates and the fans for the trust they have placed in him, fully aware that at Real Madrid certain numbers come with expectations measured in trophies and performances, not social media impressions.

The Dutch-born centre-back is not hiding from that. He has spoken of embracing the responsibility, of wanting to add his own chapter to a tradition built by some of the most imposing defenders in the club’s history. The aim is clear: one day, he wants people to look at the No. 4 and judge that he was worthy of it, not merely the next man to wear it.

He ended his message with a promise, not a slogan. Every day, in training and in matches, he intends to give everything to live up to the history stitched into that shirt. At the Bernabéu, the No. 4 has never been just a number.

Now it is Huijsen’s turn to find out what kind of player it makes him.