'Not so convinced': Fabrizio Romano provides update on Dean Huijsen amid Real Madrid preference claim

Newcastle United are expected to be one of several clubs looking to activate Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen's £50 million release clause this summer.

The Magpies looked at Huijsen as a potential transfer target last summer when their priority was a central defender. And while Newcastle ultimately spent weeks chasing Marc Guehi and ending the window empty-handed, Bournemouth snapped up Dean Huijsen for just £12 million.

Now it looks like it's going to cost Newcastle £50 million if they want to correct that mistake, but with so many clubs keen on the 19-year-old after such an impressive first season the Premier League, they'll be lucky to get as far as contract talks.

The strong rumour is that if Real Madrid are to enter the race for Huijsen then everybody else might as well back out as that's where the player has his heart set on moving.

Real Madrid may not make any kind of move for Dean Huijsen

Fortunately for Newcastle and the other interested parties, Real Madrid have shown no signs of making a move or even suggesting a need for a central defender, and that remains the case as of yesterday, when Fabrizio Romano provided an update via Give Me Sport on YouTube.

“I’m hearing that internally at Real Madrid, they have still not decided whether they want to sign a centre-back or not in the summer, how much they want to spend.

“They have Raul Asencio at the club who is doing very well, so that’s why Real Madrid are not so convinced. Not about Huijsen, but about signing a new centre-back in the summer. This is why the timing is helping the English clubs. Liverpool will be there, Arsenal will be there, Chelsea will be there.

“The release clause is £50million, so the negotiation is on the player’s side, basically. I’m sure that all these three clubs will push and push again in the next days (and) weeks to try to reach an agreement with Dean Huijsen and his camp.”

Liverpool are a big worry in the race for Dean Huijsen's signature

Liverpool's interest may cool slightly now that they have got Virgil van Dijk to sign a new contract, although he's not getting any younger and Huijsen would be an excellent long-term successor who now has the opportunity to learn from Van Dijk.

Chelsea are always going to be in the mix for any player with two working legs, so they're not a shock, and Arsenal could do with a new defender as Alexander Isak still hasn't taken William Saliba out of his pocket since the Carabao Cup semi-final.

Dean Huijsen ticks every box for Newcastle this summer. He's a central defender with Premier League experience, but he's also young enough to be moulded by Eddie Howe and could be seen as a perfect partner for Sven Botman going forward. £50 million is a steep price to pay for a teenage defender, sure, especially when we could have had him for a quarter of the cost a year ago, but we have to pay for our mistakes somehow.