Dean Huijsen Embraces Iconic Number 4 at Real Madrid

Dean Huijsen has chosen his number at Real Madrid, and it is anything but casual. The young centre-back will wear the iconic 4, a shirt that at the Santiago Bernabéu carries a weight far beyond the digits stitched into the fabric.

For Huijsen, this is not branding. It is the closing of a circle that began in childhood.

As reported by Marca, the defender explained that taking the number 4 is the realisation of a dream he has carried for years, one bound tightly to the figure of Sergio Ramos – his greatest idol and the last great owner of that shirt for Los Blancos. As a boy, Huijsen laced up Ramos’ famous “SR4” boots, trying to mimic the defender who turned the number into a symbol of defiance, leadership and decisive nights in Madrid and on the biggest stages in world football.

Now the number is his. And the legend he once copied has already taken notice.

Ramos sent a simple, generous message of support: “I hope it brings you many joys too.” Few words, but from that source, they land with force. It is a passing of the torch, however informal, from one 4 to the next.

Huijsen has not limited his homage to Ramos alone. He also highlighted another giant of Madrid’s defensive history: Fernando Hierro. The link here is not just footballing. There is a regional bond, too. Both defenders share the same area of origin, and Huijsen has admitted that this connection makes the legacy of the shirt even more personal, even more demanding. Wearing Hierro’s number, coming from the same region, turns the choice into a statement as much as a tribute.

He has also looked at the recent past. David Alaba, the last man to wear the 4, left his own mark in the dressing room and on the pitch. Huijsen has seen that up close. Sharing a locker room with the Austrian gave the youngster a front-row seat to Alaba’s daily standards: his professionalism, his voice in the group, his constant willingness to help team-mates. Those are the traits Huijsen singled out, the qualities that, in his eyes, defined Alaba’s time in white.

So this is not a romantic pick made on a whim. The centre-back knows exactly what he is stepping into.

Publicly, he thanked the club, the board, the coaching staff, his team-mates and the fans for the trust they have placed in him. The message was clear: he understands the responsibility, and he is not shying away from it. At Real Madrid, some numbers are inherited, not chosen. The 4 is one of them.

Huijsen wants to do more than guard a legacy. He wants to build his own. He has spoken of earning the right, one day, to be judged alongside the great names who came before him in that shirt. Not as a copy, but as a worthy successor.

He ended his message with a promise that sounded more like a personal oath: he will give everything, every day, in training and in matches, to honour the historic weight of the number. At the Bernabéu, the 4 is not just a figure on a player’s back. It is a standard. Now it is Huijsen’s turn to see if he can live up to it.