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Dean Huijsen: Can the Roma Loanee Assert Himself at Juventus Next Season?

May 5, 2024
Player Analysis, Serie A Analysis

At 19 years of age, Dean Huijsen has plenty of promise during his loan spell at Roma since making the move to the capital side in January, and it seems he could very well have a prominent role to play at his parent club Juventus in 2024/25 as they look to shake up their defensive core.

 

Born in Amsterdam to Dutch parents, Huijsen left for Spain at five years of age, beginning his youth career in Spain at Costa Unida CF De Marbella before joining Malaga just aged 10 in 2015. He would then spend six years at Malaga before joining Juventus in 2021 to play for the Juventus under 17.

 

In 2023 he would get promoted to the Juventus Next Gen side which is the reserve team of Juventus. The Juventus Next Gen side play in the third division of Italian football which is Serie C. Huijsen had a knack of scoring goals from defence, grabbing seven goals in nineteen games including braces against Fiorentina and Sassuolo, whilst he also scored against Sampdoria, Genoa and Parma Under 17 side.

 

 

For the Juventus Next Generation side, he featured thirty times and scored three goals, two of them in the Coppa Italia Serie C against Foggia which Juventus Next Generation won on penalties in the semi final but lost in the final to LR Vicenza.  He would make one Serie A appearance for Juventus in the current season 2023/24 season. Max Allegri brought on the young defender as Juventus were leading 1-0, replacing fellow defender Federico Gatti, coming on for the final twelve minutes of the game. Manuel Locatelli was the match hero for Juventus that day with the only goal of the game as Juventus won away at San Siro. 

 

On the final matchday of 2023, Juventus took on AS Roma, Dean Huijsen was on the bench and as the final minutes were winding down with Juventus leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from Adrien Rabiot. Jose Mourinho was spotted speaking to the Juventus youngster. Just days later Huijsen would be joining Roma on loan till the end of the season, rejecting a move to Frosinone which had been previously agreed. 

 

His time in the Italian capital has been very mixed, starting off well with strong performances. But has tailed off in recent weeks. Huijsen gave away the penalty against Lazio in the Coppa Italia which Mattia Zaccagni scored, but he did manage to score two goals against Cagliari and against Frosinone. After opening the scoring in the 38th minute, he was booked after gesturing to the Frosinone fans who had been booing him from the first whistle. During the half-time interval, he was substituted for Diego Llorente, with Roma prevailing 3-0 via goals from Sardar Azmoun and Leandro Paredes.

 

 

Against Fiorentina, Gianluca Mancini had a momentary rush of blood and was a walking red card. Daniele De Rossi brought on Dean Huijsen to replace Mancini after thirty-three minutes. Roma was playing with a back three and had to be changed to a back four which Roma drew the game in the fifth minute of stoppage time thanks to a Diego Llorente blockbuster. Huisjen found himself playing at right back and did very well, looked comfortable on the ball and did not look out of place. 

 

Huijsen began April by replacing Evan Ndicka during halftime in a 0-0 draw at Lecce, and after being an unused substitute in their 1-0 win vs. Lazio, he would start in their trip to Udine. He was at fault for the Udinese goal as he lost track of the ball and failed to control the ball, allowing Roberto Pereyra to nick the ball from him and score past the onrushing Mile Svilar. De Rossi subbed him off in the 53rd minute, with Romelu Lukaku equalizing from a Bryan Cristante cross shortly after.

 

The game was suspended in the 71st minute after Ndicka collapsed due to an internal blow to the ribs which caused a collapsed lung, with Paulo Dybala setting up Cristante for a last-second winner to snatch a valuable three points. There have been recent reports after this game that Roma is not keen on extending the stay of Dean Hujsen past the summer and it was reported that the Roma staff did not like his attitude in the game away at Udine.

 

 

That may alert Juventus and a couple of English clubs that have been rumoured to be interested in signing the Dutch/Spanish defender. Huijsen has recently changed his allegiance internationally to Spain after he became a Spanish citizen, having played two times for the Spanish U21 side during the March international break. Huijsen hasn’t played a single minute since being caught out against Udinese on April 14, but at 19 years of age, there’s reason to believe that he could be challenging for a first team spot at the Bianconeri next season.

 

By: Scot Munroe / @scot_munroe

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / Fabio Rossi / AS Roma

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