Barcelona following 17-year-old Juventus defensive wonderkid for the future – Romano

According to Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are tracking 17-year-old defensive prodigy Dean Huijsen who plies his trade for Italian giants Juventus.

Born in Amsterdam, Huijsen spent the early parts of his youth career in Spain with Costa Unida and Malaga before moving to Juventus in the summer of last year.

The youngster turned down many interesting proposals in order to sign for the Bianconeri. After spending the last season with the club’s Under-17 side, Huijsen was promoted to the Primavera outfit this season, for whom he has played eight times and scored thrice.

The teenage centre-half has also turned out six times for Juve’s youth side in the UEFA Youth League this term, scoring three goals.

Earlier today, when Juventus played Rijeka in a friendly encounter, Huijsen made his unofficial debut for the senior team, playing for an hour as the Italians secured a 1-0 victory.

A gifted young defender, Huijsen is now said to be on the radars of Barcelona as well as Bayern Munich, who are tracking the 17-year-old prospect with an eye on a future move.

The youngster has been likened to his compatriot and Juventus teammate Matthijs de Ligt and is comfortable with the ball at his feet. At the same time, standing at 6ft 4in, he also boasts of impressive physical attributes despite being just 17.

Barça have shown a lot of propensity to invest in young talent of late. Pedri was signed a couple of years ago, while the Blaugrana also brought in Pablo Torre last summer.

They have also added exciting prospects like Emre Demir, Nil Ruiz, Fabio Blanco, and Roman Vega, among several others, to the Barça Atletic squad.

The Blaugrana are also in the process of renewing 15-year-old La Masia gem Lamine Yamal, who has already trained with the first team under Xavi on several occasions.

And Huijsen could be another such exciting prospect that could arrive at Barcelona in the future. His current contract with Juventus expires in 2024, but the Serie A bigwigs are planning to meet the 17-year-old’s representatives to discuss a new deal.

Whether Barcelona decide to make a swoop for the teenager will be interesting to see. For now, though, they are just keeping tabs on the teenager, along with Bayern Munich.