Huijsen Takes Real Madrid’s No. 4 Shirt: A Legacy and a Challenge

The new Real Madrid squad list for 2026-27 dropped with one detail that instantly jumped off the page. No. 4 has a new owner.

Dean Huijsen, who spent last season in the far less glamorous No. 24, will wear the iconic digit that has come to define generations of Madrid defenders. For a boy from Malaga who grew up idolising Sergio Ramos and tracing the footsteps of Fernando Hierro, this is more than a wardrobe change. It is a statement of intent.

He knows exactly what it means.

On social media, the defender posed with his new shirt and poured out what the moment represented to him. “It’s always been my dream to play for Real Madrid and wear the number 4. As a child, my biggest idol was always Sergio Ramos, who wore this number and was a true legend for Real Madrid and world football. I still remember playing in his SR4 boots because I wanted to be like him,” he said.

Then he reached further back into the club’s history. “Before him, another legend like Fernando Hierro also wore this number. It makes it especially meaningful to me because he was from Malaga too, just like me.”

For Huijsen, that Malaga link is not a throwaway detail. Hierro’s rise from the Costa del Sol to the heart of the Bernabéu defence is part of the club’s mythology. Now another defender from the same city is being handed the shirt that once sat on Hierro’s shoulders. The symbolism is obvious. The pressure, too.

A defining season ahead

The timing of the change is not accidental. Inside the club, the 2026-27 campaign is being framed as a decisive season in Huijsen’s development.

His debut year in Madrid flashed enough talent to excite but not enough consistency to convince. There were commanding nights that hinted at a long-term pillar of the back line, followed by dips that cost him his place in Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad for the World Cup. For a young defender at Real Madrid, those margins are brutal.

The end of last season offered a different picture. Huijsen steadied, performances sharpened, and his form picked up just in time to salvage momentum heading into the summer. Now he has something else in his corner: a full pre-season under José Mourinho.

Mourinho’s training camps are not known for comfort. They are known for clarity. Players either emerge hardened and ready, or they fall away. For a centre-back stepping into the No. 4 shirt, that kind of environment can be transformative.

Huijsen sounds ready to embrace the weight.

“I want to thank the club, the president, the manager, the players and all the fans of this great club,” he said. “I know this number has a history filled with legends, and I hope to write my own story so that one day people will consider me worthy of having worn this shirt and this number. What I do know is that I will give everything every day, whether in training or in a match.”

Following Alaba, learning from a modern great

The story of Madrid’s No. 4 is not only about Ramos and Hierro. Before the number became free, it belonged to David Alaba, the versatile Austrian who has now decided to leave the club.

Alaba’s time in white did not stretch as long as some of his predecessors, but his influence inside the dressing room was significant. Huijsen made a point of underlining that.

“After that, another great football legend, David Alaba, wore it, and I had the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with him. Without a doubt, he was one of the best teammates and people I have met in this sport. He always worked hard and was willing to help everyone with his experience and leadership. I want to thank the club, the president, the manager, the players and all the fans of this great club,” Huijsen noted.

The gratitude is genuine, and the subtext is clear: this is not a youngster grabbing a free number because it looks good on a poster. He has watched what it takes from close range. He has seen how Alaba led, how Ramos dominated, how Hierro commanded. The number comes with habits attached.

Now, it is his turn to live up to them.

The shirt is his. The history is not. That part he still has to earn, one tackle, one performance, one season at a time.