Huijsen Takes Over Real Madrid's Iconic No. 4 Jersey

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

The club have confirmed their squad list for the 2026-27 season, and with it a decision that says as much about faith as it does about fashion: Huijsen, the young defender from Malaga, has been handed the shirt once worn by Fernando Hierro, Sergio Ramos and, most recently, David Alaba.

Last year he was No. 24, a promising defender trying to find his feet in the capital. This year he walks into Valdebebas with the weight of a dynasty on his back.

For Huijsen, that’s exactly the point.

From SR4 boots to the Bernabéu’s No. 4

The defender didn’t hide what this means. On social media he posed with his new kit and poured out the story behind the number.

“It’s always been my dream to play for Real Madrid and wear the number 4,” he wrote, tying the moment back to the posters and heroes of his childhood. Sergio Ramos was the reference, the player whose “SR4” brand he wore on his feet as a boy because he wanted to be just like him. A legend for Real Madrid, a giant of world football – and the man who turned the No. 4 into a symbol of defiance and dominance at the back.

Before Ramos, another colossus. Fernando Hierro, the Malaga-born captain who defined an era and whose presence still lingers in the way Madridistas talk about leadership. For Huijsen, who shares that same Andalusian birthplace, the lineage is personal. The number doesn’t just connect him to club history; it connects him to home.

A career at a crossroads

This is not a ceremonial handover. The 2026-27 campaign shapes up as a defining season for Huijsen.

His debut year in Madrid flickered rather than burned. There were moments – sharp interventions, composed build-up play, flashes that hinted at a long-term starter – but they were punctuated by dips in form. Consistency eluded him. The consequence was brutal: he slipped out of Luis de la Fuente’s Spain squad in the build-up to the World Cup.

Yet he did not finish the season as he started it. A strong run-in, with steadier performances and fewer errors, nudged the narrative back in his favour. Now comes a full pre-season under José Mourinho, whose training sessions are as demanding as his expectations. If Huijsen wants to prove he belongs in a shirt worn by serial winners, he has the right – and ruthless – tutor.

He knows exactly what he is walking into.

“I know this number has a history filled with legends,” he said, addressing the decision with a mixture of gratitude and ambition. He thanked the club, the president, the manager, his teammates and the fans, then set his own standard: to write a story that makes people one day consider him worthy of the shirt.

That will not be achieved in speeches or sentimental posts. He made that clear too. “What I do know is that I will give everything every day, whether in training or in a match.” For a defender at Real Madrid, effort is the minimum entry fee.

Alaba’s shadow, Alaba’s help

The No. 4 is not just a relic of the Ramos-Hierro axis. Its most recent owner, David Alaba, left a different kind of imprint.

Before the number became vacant, the Austrian international wore it with the calm authority that had defined his career at Bayern and Madrid. Versatile, vocal, relentlessly professional, Alaba became a reference point in the dressing room as much as in the back line.

Huijsen made a point of acknowledging that inheritance. “After that, another great football legend, David Alaba, wore it, and I had the pleasure of sharing a dressing room with him,” he noted. The praise went beyond the usual platitudes. He called Alaba one of the best teammates and people he has met in the sport, highlighting his work ethic, willingness to help and quiet leadership.

That mentorship mattered. For a young defender trying to navigate the demands of Real Madrid, Alaba’s guidance filled in the gaps that cameras never catch – positioning tweaks at training, words after a mistake, small nudges in the right direction.

The number is his now. The standard remains theirs.

A shirt, a statement

Real Madrid do not hand out iconic numbers lightly. Giving Huijsen the No. 4 is a message: the club see him not just as a prospect, but as a defender expected to grow into responsibility, to anchor the back line rather than simply rotate through it.

He has the story, the sentiment, the idols. Now he has the jersey he always wanted.

The question is no longer whether he deserves the number of Ramos, Hierro and Alaba.

It’s how quickly he can convince the Bernabéu that someone else, years from now, will grow up dreaming of wearing Huijsen’s No. 4.