Dean Huijsen is heading into his second season at Real Madrid with a genuine opportunity to nail down a first-choice centre-back spot. The 21-year-old is expected to start against Deportivo La Coruña in the Teresa Herrera Trophy on Wednesday at Riazor — the first meeting between the two clubs in eight years — having recovered from the minor injury that kept him out of the trip to Austria for the Fiorentina friendly. According to AS, this season carries a clear objective for Huijsen: take a genuine step forward, not just show flashes of his ceiling.

From standout to inconsistent and back

Huijsen’s Real Madrid story began in June 2025, when the club triggered his £50 million (roughly €60 million) release clause at Bournemouth and signed him to a five-year deal under Xabi Alonso, ahead of that summer’s Club World Cup. He made an immediate impression in the tournament, emerging as one of the squad’s most positive performers despite Real Madrid’s failure to win it — and even picked up a warm welcome from Kylian Mbappé after the pair’s first meeting following the transfer.

That form carried into the start of La Liga, but faded once Real Madrid hit their first bad run of results. Confidence occasionally tipped into overconfidence, lapses in concentration crept in, and he lost his place as an automatic starter. He responded with an improved run of form toward the end of the campaign — form he now wants to carry directly into the new season.

A coach who already knows him well

One factor working in Huijsen’s favor: Mourinho isn’t a stranger to him. During his time at AS Roma, Mourinho personally pushed to sign Huijsen on loan, a spell in Serie A that helped accelerate his development before his move to the Premier League. Now reunited at Real Madrid, Huijsen has made a strong start to preseason, starting both training matches at Valdebebas before the minor issue that kept him out of the Fiorentina trip. He returned for the second half against Ferencváros and is expected to start at Riazor, having also inherited the club’s No. 4 shirt this summer — a number he’s called a personal dream to wear.

Konaté raises the bar

The biggest structural change facing Huijsen this season is the centre-back competition around him. With David Alaba’s exit, Ibrahima Konaté has arrived from Liverpool on a free transfer to challenge for a starting role — even though Konaté himself is one of several big names Mourinho has kept back in Madrid rather than travel to Galicia, alongside Marc Cucurella, Mbappé, Jude Bellingham, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Thibaut Courtois, and new record signing Yan Diomandé, all being eased into full training rather than risked in an early friendly.

For Huijsen, that only sharpens the stakes over the coming months. He already knows what Mourinho expects of him, and has the talent and the club’s backing behind him. What’s left is the harder part: turning that potential into week-to-week consistency and making himself a genuine fixture at the heart of Real Madrid’s defense.

RMxtra Verdict

A trophy named after a Galician saint’s day isn’t where seasons get decided, but for a player trying to reset his standing at the club, starting minutes and a strong showing at Riazor matter more than the occasion might suggest. With Konaté waiting in the wings, Huijsen doesn’t have much room left to treat this as just another preseason outing.