How does Dean Huijsen compare to Chelsea’s potential centre-back options for 2025-26? | OneFootball

Chelsea are being linked with a move for Bournemouth centre-back Dean Huijsen.

The 20-year-old has had an excellent season for Bournemouth after joining from Juventus last summer. Huijsen has played 27 times for Bournemouth in the league so far this season, boasting a Squawka Score of 64% — ranking sixth among centre-backs in the Premier League.

As a result of his performances, Huijsen is already being linked with a move away. The killer for Bournemouth is that he has a £50 million release clause in his contract. Alongside Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are the clubs touted with interest.

A bright and shiny young player, Huijsen ticks all the Chelsea boxes. But is he someone they should actually be going for, when it comes to his footballing ability? The Blues have a host of centre-backs to choose from, and some defenders who could be repurposed with patience. So, how do they compare? We’ve taken a look at the left-sided centre-back options for Chelsea, or others who have enough minutes on that side of the defence.

Passing

The main reason for Chelsea’s interest in Huijsen is, reportedly, his passing. On the ball, Huijsen boasts a retention rate of 86.24%, which is the percentage of touches that aren’t losing possession. This places Huijsen in the 40-60th percentile among centre-backs. Chelsea’s best centre-back in terms of retention rate is Tosin Adarabioyo, with 92.09%.

Levi Colwill is the most direct comparison in terms of position, and his retention rate is 89.86%. Now there’s obviously the difference in tactics here, with Chelsea averaging more passes and touches per game than Bournemouth. The Blues also rank second for possession in the Premier League this season at 58.43%, while Bournemouth average 47.99%.

Renato Veiga has also proven himself reliable on the ball since moving to Juventus, where he is now playing as a centre-back, with a retention rate of 90.23%. And if he were to return to Chelsea to play as a centre-back, he’d naturally look for the left-sided spot.

Adarabioyo also leads this group for passing accuracy at 91.53%, with Wesley Fofana (90.78%), Benoit Badiashile (90.1%) and Colwill (90.08%) the other players to boast accuracy higher than 90%. Of course, there are some caveats here with Badiashile playing just 333 minutes this season due to injury. That’s why he blows everyone out of the water for passes into the final third completed per 90 minutes at 10!

But if you take Badiashile out of the equation, this is where Huijsen shines. The Spaniard averages 6.19 passes into the final third completed per 90, more than Colwill’s 4.77. Fofana is the only other player to average higher than four (4.13), with Adarabioyo just under (3.9).

It’s also a close battle between Huijsen and Colwill for passes into the opposition half completed. The Bournemouth man averages 7.29 per 90, to Colwill’s 8. These are the top two if we exclude Josh Acheampong’s 12.25, considering he’s played just 169 minutes in the Premier League. And, again, Huijsen ranks second in long ball accuracy (53.11%) behind only Badiashile (59.09%). He would be a good outlet for Chelsea in getting balls over the top.

Duels

Standing at around 6’5″, you’d expect Huijsen to be strong in the air. He’s certainly busy, averaging 4.48 aerial duels per 90 in the Premier League this season. Only Adarabioyo averages more among Chelsea players at 4.56 per 90, which is understandable given he is slightly taller than Huijsen. This places both in the 80-95th percentile among centre-backs.

But both leave a lot to be desired when it comes to aerial duel success. In fact a lot of the centre-back options do. Badiashile has the best success rate, winning 80% of his 2.7 duels contested per 90. Veiga ranks second for his time at Juventus with a 73.08% success rate, averaging 3.4 aerial duels per 90. For comparison, the best aerial duel success rate among centre-backs with at least 1,000 minutes in the Premier League this season is James Tarkowski at 74.64%. Virgil van Dijk (71.24%), Nikola Milenkovic (71.09%), Ibrahima Konate (70.41%) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (70.37%) are all not too far behind.

At Chelsea Fofana (67.5%) and Trevoh Chalobah (60.56%) are the others to better Huijsen. The Spaniard’s 59.8% aerial duel success rate places him in the 60-80th percentile among centre-backs, which isn’t the worst but you’d want more from such a tall player. Colwill (59.52%) and Adarabioyo (58.06%) are also in that percentile.

So, what about on the floor? Huijsen averages 3.69 total ground duels per 90 in the Premier League this season, sitting close to Colwill’s 3.87. Again, he’s low on the success rate with 52.38%, but that’s still better than Colwill’s 50.86%. Adarabioyo, Chalobah and Badiashile are all more successful in their ground duels, as is Veiga with 68% success rate for Juventus. Let’s also take a second to appreciate Acheampong, who has won all four of his ground duels this season.

It’s a similar story for tackles and challenges lost. Huijsen averages 1.45 tackles per 90 this season, ranking him third among our selection of Chelsea-tied centre-backs. Only Badiashile (2.43) and Veiga (1.83) average more. But Huijsen has lost 0.44 challenges per 90, with Veiga (0.52), Fofana (0.61) and Chalobah (0.63) losing more on average. Colwill and Adarabioyo are both strong here, losing 0.3 and 0.27 challenges per 90 respectively.

General defending

As a team with less of the ball, you’d expect Bournemouth’s defensive numbers to generally be higher than Chelsea’s. And so Huijsen does rank well here.

The 20-year-old averages 2.15 interceptions per 90 in the Premier League this season, more than any Chelsea centre-back. His closest rival is Badiashile’s 1.61 — and remember, Badiashile has only played five matches, so his per 90 numbers are generally going to be higher. Huijsen also blows everyone else out of the water for completed clearances at 7.02 per 90, which is actually the third-highest in the Premier League this season. Veiga’s 4.7 for Juventus comes second among our selection, with Chalobah averaging 4.55 though that also counts his time with Crystal Palace.

Huijsen averages 2.33 possessions won in the defensive third per 90 this season, which puts him behind Badiashile, Fofana and Veiga, but ahead of Colwill and Acheampong who all still average above 2. Again this will be partly down to his responsibilities in playing for Bournemouth, but it’s good to show that he can do this.

An average of 0.18 errors leading to shots or goals per 90 might be a bit of a worry. While Badiashile (0.54) and Chalobah (0.21) do average more, Chelsea will want more surety from a defender. Overall, Huijsen’s four errors leading to shots or goals is the same as Colwill’s, who would likely be part of a defence alongside the Spaniard should he sign.

Chelsea do also have Aaron Anselmino to potentially call upon next season, if he isn’t sent on loan. The young Argentine centre-back is a strong defender and would be a good partner for a passer, to potentially counter any defensive negatives. Of course, what Chelsea really need is experience to play alongside their young defenders.