It's no secret that Chelsea or in the market for a new striker and sent her back this summer. There have been several big names strikers mentioned as potential targets as have several center backs from across Europe.
One name that keeps coming up for Chelsea has been Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen. The Spanish international has impressed this year with the Cherries and has been one of their best players since arriving from Juventus over the summer for around £15 million. Bournemouth has been one of the surprises of the season as they currently sit 10th in the Premier League table but are just 4 points off the European places.
According to reports out of Spain, manager Enzo Maresca has been getting directly involved with Chelsea's pursuit of Huijsen. Maresca spent time as a player at the Spanish club Malaga and Huijsen came up through their Academy before joining Juventus’s youth set up in 2022. The same report alleges that Maresca has been in contact with Huijsen’s representatives for years and has always admired him as a player.
The young Spanish defender has become a high profile target for clubs like Real Madrid and PSG as well. He has a reported release clause of just £42 million which is great value these days for a player so young that has already made such an impression in football.
He has made around 40 appearances at the senior level but recently made his full debut with the Spanish national team as well. Huijsen came on as a substitute in the first leg of the UEFA Nations League quarterfinal against Netherlands and then played the full 120 minutes of the second leg during the most recent international break.
Despite being just 19 years old, Tyson has already proven that he can excel at the Premier League level. If Chelsea can convince him to join their project, he could end up being their centerpiece in defense for the next decade or so.
One of the possible obstacles to this deal is if Bournemouth qualify for European competition they may choose to keep him rather than cashing in on the young asset. This is a club that operates in a different financial stratosphere than Chelsea and a £30 million or so profit may be hard to ignore.
Bournemouth have also made it known that they would like to turn Kepa Arrizabalaga’s loan into a permanent move and giving Chelsea first dibs on Huijsen could certainly helped them in that pursuit. This transfer is definitely one to watch closely as it checks all of the boxes for Chelsea’s transfer policy.