Chelsea, Newcastle United, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all showed interest in Dean Huijsen before he left AFC Bournemouth for Real Madrid this summer.
Saturday’s edition of AS have published an interview with the defender’s agent, Ali Barat, and the majority of the chat is focused on Huijsen’s arrival at Real Madrid.
During the interview, the representative said Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Bayern Munich were among the ‘big clubs’ that wanted to sign his client from the Cherries.
The 20-year-old joined Bournemouth from Juventus in the summer of 2024 and starred under Andoni Iraola’s orders in his debut season in England, making 41 appearances.
His impressive performances for Bournemouth helped him make debut for Spain in March, after which Real Madrid made contact.
“We always thought Real Madrid would come: Dean is a fantastic player, and after the two games with the national team, Juni [Calafat] contacted us, and everything moved very quickly, honestly. Absolutely. When they came along, it was an easy decision: there were many clubs, but with Real Madrid, there was no doubt,” he said.
The decision to pick Real Madrid over the Premier League quartet and others was easy for the centre-back as he’s a huge Los Blancos supporter.
AS asked the agent about the Chelsea links and whether that was just a rumour, he then spoke about Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Bayern.
“Chelsea wanted him, even since January. They were the first big club really interested, but Bournemouth didn’t want to sell in January, and his release clause wasn’t active then, only in the summer,” Barat explained.
“And of course, after playing for the national team, we had about seven big clubs: Bayern, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle… They all wanted Dean, to be honest.”