Dean Huijsen Embraces the Legacy of No. 4 at Real Madrid

At Real Madrid, some numbers are just ink and fabric. The No. 4 is not one of them.

Dean Huijsen has chosen it with his eyes wide open. The young centre-back confirmed he will wear the historic shirt next season, describing it as the realisation of a childhood dream that has followed him all the way to the Santiago Bernabeu.

This is not a casual pick from the kit room rail. It is a number bound tightly to one name in particular: Sergio Ramos.

As reported by Marca, Huijsen admitted that his obsession with the No. 4 began with his greatest idol, the defender who turned that shirt into a symbol of defiance and dominance in Madrid and across world football. As a boy, Huijsen laced up Ramos’ “SR4” boots, trying to copy every movement of the man who captained Real Madrid through an era of trophies and drama.

Now he steps into the same number. The echo is impossible to ignore.

Ramos himself acknowledged the moment, sending Huijsen a simple, generous message: “I hope it brings you many joys too.” No lecture, no warning. Just a blessing from the man who gave the shirt its modern weight.

But Huijsen’s choice is not only about Ramos. He made sure to name-check another giant of the Bernabeu back line: Fernando Hierro. The Malaga-born defender carried the No. 4 with authority through the 1990s and early 2000s, a towering presence in both boxes and a reference point for an entire generation.

For Huijsen, there is a personal thread there as well. They share roots from the same region, a detail that, in his own words, deepens the meaning of inheriting a shirt once worn by Hierro. It is legacy with a local accent.

The recent past matters too. Before Huijsen, the number belonged to David Alaba, another defender whose CV and character left a clear impression inside the Madrid dressing room. Having shared that space with the Austrian, Huijsen has seen at close quarters the standards attached to that shirt.

He highlighted Alaba’s professionalism, his leadership, his constant willingness to help those around him. Those traits, as much as the trophies, have shaped what No. 4 represents in this era of the club.

So when Huijsen put his hand up for it, he knew exactly what he was taking on.

He publicly thanked the club hierarchy, the coaching staff, his team-mates and the fans for the trust behind such a decision. This was not framed as a marketing move or a vanity choice, but as a responsibility he is ready to carry.

Responsibility is the key word. At Real Madrid, certain numbers come with an unwritten contract. Wear them, and you accept the comparison, the scrutiny, the expectation that you will not just fill a shirt but add to its story.

Huijsen is not hiding from that. He spoke of wanting to write his own history, to reach a point where his name, not just those of Ramos, Hierro or Alaba, is mentioned when people talk about Madrid’s great No. 4s.

He ended his message with a promise that sounded more like a daily standard than a slogan: he will give everything, every day, in training and in matches, to be worthy of the number on his back.

At most clubs, a squad number is an administrative detail. At the Bernabeu, some of them feel like a test. Huijsen has chosen to sit the hardest one.