Real Madrid are ramping up their efforts to sign Dean Huijsen and are confident of beating Chelsea to the Bournemouth centre-back.
Huijsen’s contract contains a £50m release clause, reportedly to be paid in three instalments, and he is attracting interest from English and European clubs. Chelsea have been considered favourites for the Spain international, who has also been targeted by Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool and Newcastle, although that has partly been down to doubts over whether Madrid are prepared to pay a big fee for the defender.
It is understood that Huijsen’s preference would be to join Madrid if they agree a deal with Bournemouth. The Spaniards tried to sign the 20-year-old when he was a youth player at Málaga and have continued to track the former Juventus and Roma defender’s progress. Huijsen’s footballing idol is Sergio Ramos, the former Spain and Madrid defender.
The question has always been whether Madrid wish to use a significant part of their transfer budget on signing Huijsen. They have looked to sign players on free transfers in recent years and are closing in on a deal for the Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose contract expires this summer.
But Madrid have endured an underwhelming season – the European champions exited the Champions League in the quarter-finals and are set to lose their La Liga crown to Barcelona – and are aware of the need to rebuild. Bayer Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso is set to replace Carlo Ancelotti, who is taking over the Brazil national team, as manager.
There remains a possibility that Madrid will decide not to pay the release clause, paving the way for Chelsea to complete a deal they have been working on behind the scenes. But a consideration for Madrid, who have had to deal with a host of defensive injuries this season, is that Huijsen will become more expensive if he joins a big English side this summer.
Chelsea are looking for another centre-back and have alternative targets, including Ajax’s Jorrel Hato, Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite. Enzo Maresca has favoured Levi Colwill and Wesley Fofana in central defence but the French centre-back has struggled to stay fit.
Fofana is out for the rest of the season while Axel Disasi, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoît Badiashile could be up for sale this summer.
