Chelsea were the “first big club” chasing top young centre back – but they missed out for this reason

Chelsea’s depth at centre back is being tested right now.

That’s worked out OK in the league so far, but a defeat to Bayern Munich in midweek is a reminder that we’re still probably missing a world class player in that positions. Someone we definitely wanted earlier this year was Dean Huijsen, the Bournemouth defender snapped up by Real Madrid at the start of the summer.

According to his agent Ali Barat, the same man behind the Nicolas Jackson deal, the Blues wanted Huijsen as far back as January but were warded off by the Cherries. By the time the summer arrived, the queue had grown significantly longer.

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Dean Huijsen and a Real Madrid logo. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“Chelsea wanted him, as far back as January. They were the first big club really interested in him, but Bournemouth didn’t want to sell in January and his clause wasn’t active back then, just in the summer,” Barat told Spanish paper AS.

“And of course, after playing with the [Spain] national team, we had around 7 big clubs interested: Bayern, Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle… they all wanted, Dean, to be honest.”

No Real Madrid doubts for Huijsen

As was pointed out, it was Huijsen’s Real Madrid fandom that really swung things in their favour.

“Absolutely [it was a factor]. When Real Madrid appeared, it was an easy decision. There were many clubs interested, but with Madrid there were no doubts.

It’s not been the easiest start for Huijsen in Madrid as he tries to find his feet. Xabi Alonso has only just taken over and there are teething problems throughout the side, Huijsen included. But there are few doubts that both the manager and the defender are going to go on to be huge successes in the future.

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