Dean Huijsen Takes Historic No. 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 historic No. 4, a shirt soaked in Bernabéu mythology and, for him, in childhood dreams.

For Huijsen, this is not just a digit on his back. It is Sergio Ramos.

From the time he was a boy, Huijsen laced up Ramos’ iconic “SR4” boots, copying the movements of the defender who came to define an era at Real Madrid and on the world stage. Now, the Dutch-born defender steps directly into that lineage, taking the number Ramos wore with such ferocity and authority.

According to Spanish daily Marca, Huijsen admitted that pulling on the No. 4 completes a dream he has carried since he was a kid. It is a straight line from the posters on his wall to the dressing room at the Santiago Bernabéu.

“I hope it brings you many joys too.”

Ramos himself did not let the moment pass in silence. The former Madrid captain sent a brief but telling message of support. For a young defender about to inherit that shirt, there are few blessings more powerful.

But Huijsen’s choice is not only about Ramos. He also highlighted another giant of Madrid’s defensive history: Fernando Hierro. The connection there runs deeper than pure football admiration. Huijsen feels a special bond with the Málaga-born legend, sharing the same region and, with it, a sense that this number carries a local pride as well as a global weight.

He has done his homework on the shirt’s recent past too. The last man to wear No. 4 was David Alaba, a player Huijsen knows from inside the dressing room. Seeing Alaba at close quarters left a mark: the Austrian’s professionalism, his leadership, his constant readiness to help team-mates. Huijsen singled out those qualities as part of the standard he now wants to match.

So when he asked for the number, he knew exactly what he was stepping into.

Publicly, Huijsen made a point of thanking the club, the board, the coaching staff, his team-mates and the fans for the trust they have shown in him at such a symbolic moment in his young career. Gratitude first, then responsibility.

Because with this shirt, there is no hiding place. At Real Madrid, the No. 4 has belonged to captains, organisers, enforcers. Players who set the tone for everyone around them. Huijsen is under no illusions: he is not just borrowing a shirt; he is walking into a tradition.

He has been clear about what comes next. He wants to build his own story, not simply live in the shadow of Ramos, Hierro or Alaba. One day, he hopes, his name will be spoken in the same breath as theirs when people talk about the No. 4 at the Bernabéu.

To get there, he has made a promise. Every day, every training session, every match, he will give everything to be worthy of that number and the weight it carries in Chamartín.

The shirt is his now. What he does with it will decide whether this remains a childhood dream fulfilled, or the first chapter of another Real Madrid legend.