Real Madrid has secured the signing of Huijsen from Bournemouth on a five-year contract

Real Madrid used a 50 million pound ($66.36 million) release clause to sign 20-year-old defender Dean Huijsen to a five-year contract, Premier League outfit Bournemouth announced on Saturday.

After a successful season since joining Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth last year from Juventus, Real Madrid beat out numerous other teams to recruit one of Europe’s most sought-after young players for the Club World Cup in the United States.

Huijsen has agreed to a contract with Real Madrid through 2030 and will begin playing for the Spanish squad on June 1.

Huijsen, a Dutch-born Spain international, made his Spain debut in March against the Netherlands in the Nations League. The center back played 34 games for Bournemouth in all competitions, scoring three goals.

Carlo Ancelotti, the manager of Real Madrid, told reporters on Saturday that Huijsen is a fantastic player who is young and has a lot of promise.

Real Madrid’s season has been severely harmed by defender injuries, and Ancelotti emphasized the importance of rebuilding the backline.

“I don’t think it was even possible last season because we had David Alaba back in the squad, (Eder) Militao was playing well, (Dani) Carvajal was playing well, and these injuries have hurt us all season long,” he continued.

Carvajal and Militao have been out since November because of serious knee issues.

Alaba, Ferland Mendy, and Antonio Ruediger are not expected to return until the conclusion of the season due to injuries they acquired in late April.