Dean Huijsen Embraces the Number 4 at Real Madrid

At Real Madrid, some numbers are just ink and fabric. The number 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, calling it the realisation of a childhood dream that has followed him from playground pitches to the Santiago Bernabéu.

For Huijsen, this is not a simple squad selection. It is a line that runs straight back to Sergio Ramos.

As reported by Marca, the defender admitted that his obsession with the number 4 was born from his admiration for Ramos, the last great owner of that shirt and the man who shaped his idea of what a Real Madrid centre-back should be. As a boy, Huijsen laced up Ramos’ iconic “SR4” boots, trying to copy every tackle, every leap, every celebration of the captain who became a symbol of the club and of modern defending.

Now he steps into that number for real.

“I hope it brings you many joys too.”

Ramos himself acknowledged the moment, sending Huijsen a message of support: a blessing from the man who turned the 4 into a brand, a standard and, at times, a burden.

Huijsen has not treated the choice lightly. He has studied the lineage.

He made a point of naming Fernando Hierro, another giant of Madrid’s defensive history, as a reference. The connection is more than historical. They share the same region of origin, a detail Huijsen says deepens his sense of responsibility. Hierro wore the 4 with authority and personality; following in those footsteps is no small undertaking for a young defender still carving out his place in the dressing room.

The recent past matters to him as well. Before Huijsen, David Alaba carried the number, and the youngster has seen first-hand what that entails. Sharing a dressing room with the Austrian gave him a close-up view of the standards attached to the shirt. He highlighted Alaba’s professionalism, his leadership and his constant willingness to help his team-mates — traits that have defined Alaba’s time in white as much as any trophy.

This is the bar Huijsen is measuring himself against.

He knows what he is walking into. Publicly, he thanked the club, the board, the coaching staff, his colleagues and the supporters for the faith they have shown in allowing him to inherit such a loaded number. It was not the language of a player grabbing a shirt for status; it sounded like someone accepting a responsibility.

Because at the Bernabéu, the 4 is more than a digit on a team sheet. It is a story.

Huijsen wants to write his own chapter in that story, not just live in the shadow of Ramos, Hierro or Alaba. He spoke of earning the right, one day, to be judged alongside them, not through words but through performances, trophies and the kind of presence that makes a number feel inevitable on a certain back.

To get there, he has made a clear promise: he will give everything, every day, in training and in matches, to live up to the weight of that shirt. No shortcuts, no excuses. Just the long, hard work of turning a childhood dream into a legacy that stands on its own.