Dean Huijsen Takes On Real Madrid's Historic No. 4 Shirt

The number on a shirt can feel like a detail. At Real Madrid, some numbers are anything but.

This summer, as the club turned the page on the 2025-26 season and said goodbye to figures such as Dani Carvajal and David Alaba, one of the most storied jerseys in its history suddenly lay vacant. The No. 4, worn most recently by Alaba and immortalised by Sergio Ramos and Fernando Hierro before him, needed a new owner.

Real Madrid have chosen Dean Huijsen.

The 21-year-old centre-back was officially handed the No. 4 when the squad numbers were revealed, and he did not treat it as a routine administrative update. He treated it like a dream come true.

On social media, Huijsen laid out exactly what this meant to him. As a boy, he did not just watch Sergio Ramos, he copied him. He laced up the SR4 boots, carried the image of the former Madrid captain in his mind, and tied his own ambitions to that white shirt and that single digit on the back.

"It was always my dream to play for Real Madrid and wear the number 4. When I was a kid, my biggest idol was Sergio Ramos, who wore the number 4 and was a true legend for Real Madrid and for world football," he wrote. He went further, recalling how he "still remember[ed] playing in his cleats, the SR4s, because I wanted to be just like him."

For a young defender stepping into a squad now shaped by Jose Mourinho, this is not just nostalgia. It is a statement of intent. Huijsen is expected to become a key part of Mourinho's defensive structure, and he has chosen a number that demands personality as much as quality.

The gesture did not go unnoticed. Ramos himself responded to Huijsen’s announcement, sending a simple, pointed message: "I hope it brings you a lot of joy too." From one No. 4 to the next, the baton felt very real.

Yet Huijsen did not limit his tribute to Ramos. He widened the lens, acknowledging the lineage that makes this shirt so heavy.

Before Ramos, there was Fernando Hierro, the iron spine of Madrid’s back line in the 1990s and early 2000s, another captain, another symbol. Huijsen made sure to mention him by name, underlining a more personal link.

"Before him, another football legend, Fernando Hierro, wore that number for Real Madrid and for soccer worldwide, but it feels even more special to me because he's from Málaga, just like me," he wrote. For a player building his identity at the Bernabéu, that shared hometown with a club icon adds another layer of meaning.

Then comes Alaba, the most recent guardian of the number and a teammate Huijsen has actually shared a dressing room with. The young defender paid his respects there too: "Later, another great football legend wore it, and I had the pleasure of sharing the locker room with him. I want to thank the club, the president, the coach, the players, and all the fans of this great club."

The message is clear. Huijsen understands that he is not just picking a shirt off a rail. He is stepping into a story.

At Real Madrid, the No. 4 has long been more than a squad list detail. Hierro turned it into a symbol of authority and leadership. Ramos elevated it again, fusing defensive aggression with decisive goals and a relentless competitive edge, until the number itself became instantly recognisable around the world.

Huijsen knows exactly what he is walking into. On Instagram, he framed it bluntly: "I know this jersey number has a history filled with legends, and I hope I can write my own story—and that one day people will consider me worthy of having worn this jersey and this number. What I do know is that I'll give it my all every single day, whether it's in training or in a match."

For Madrid, giving him this number is a public vote of confidence. The club are not hiding him behind a low-profile shirt; they are pinning one of their most historic numbers on a 21-year-old and trusting his talent and character to carry it.

The responsibility is huge. So is the opportunity.

From this season on, every tackle, every aerial duel, every nervous first touch under the lights will be judged with that No. 4 on his back and those names in the background. Mourinho appears ready to build him into the heart of his plans. The question now is simple and ruthless, the kind that defines careers in Madrid: can Dean Huijsen turn a childhood dream and a legendary shirt into a legacy of his own in 2026-27?