Tiago Pinto, Bournemouth’s president of football operations, was crucial in the signing of Huijsen.
The Portuguese joined the Cherries from Roma in 2024, where he was general manager.
He was key in landing Huijsen, having watched the former Roma defender on loan at the Stadio Olimpico that season.
Those with knowledge of the negotiations say Pinto knew he could exploit Juventus’ need to sell players.
This is despite one source in Turin saying they thought Huijsen could become “world class” even when he started out in their academy teams.
Bournemouth ended up signing Huijsen for £12.6m, in a deal potentially rising to £15m.
After an injury to team-mate Marcos Senesi, Huijsen broke into Bournemouth’s starting XI and hasn’t looked back.
He was exceptional on his third Premier League start, scoring a towering header in a 1-0 win over Tottenham at Vitality Stadium in December.
He has been an ever-present in Andoni Iraola’s defence since.
Once a move to the Bernabeu is completed, the Cherries will have quadrupled their initial outlay on the defender.
Huijsen can meet Real Madrid demands
What has become very clear, not just at Real Madrid but at all the top teams, is that there are players that cannot last a whole season and cannot play three games in a row.
It is nothing to do with training or bad preparation, it is just the physical demands.
Real feel there are some areas of the team that need reinforcements and central defence is one of them.
In Dean, they see someone that can maintain the level of the Premier League, who has the physicality to deal with it and is still developing.
The club was always going to invest in a centre-back this summer but they have decided to invest quickly before the Club World Cup.