The 10 Best Premier League Debuts of All Time
- Think Football Ideas
- Sep 2, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 13
10 Unforgettable Premier League Debuts That Redefined First Impressions
When a Premier League club signs a new player, the air changes. Expectation hovers like a storm cloud. Fans lean forward in their seats, eyes wide, imagining the possibilities. Media pundits sharpen their quills, ready to declare genius or disaster.
Teammates watch quietly, knowing that a debut is the first real test, the collision of talent, temperament, and timing on the league’s unforgiving stage.
Some arrivals fade into polite obscurity. Others announce themselves with a roar that echoes long after the final whistle. Across the Premier League’s history, a handful have done just that, stepping onto turf and into legend, in moments that still make supporters’ hearts race.
Below Are The 10 Best and Unforgettable Premier League Debuts of All Time
10. Tijjani Reijnders (Man City)
August 2025, Wolves v Man City (16 Aug 2025)
City’s midfield was evolving, but with Tijjani Reijnders, it felt as though the blueprint was suddenly complete.
Against Wolves, the Dutchman moved as if Pep Guardiola had been coaching him since childhood. Composed in possession, daring in attack, every pass and run felt purposeful.
A crisp finish, an immaculate assist, simple, elegant, and decisive. Alongside Rayan Cherki, who also found the net, Reijnders announced himself in style, marking the first time in 18 years that two City debutants scored in the same Premier League game. Yet it was the Dutchman’s quiet command in midfield that lingered in the memory.
9. Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
August 2012, Wigan v Chelsea (19 Aug 2012)
Chelsea had waited, breath held, for Belgium’s brightest talent. Hazard delivered within minutes. An early assist for Ivanović, a penalty earned for Lampard to convert. This was flair and productivity wrapped in one fluid performance.
He drifted past defenders with the ease of someone playing chess while others rushed in checkers. Hazard’s debut didn’t just announce a new signing - it announced a new era at Stamford Bridge.
Seven years on, he would be remembered as one of Chelsea's best midfielders of all-time, and it all began on that August afternoon.
8. Hugo Ekitike (Liverpool)
August 2025, Liverpool v Bournemouth (15 Aug 2025)
Liverpool’s search for a dynamic forward to follow Darwin Núñez's exit led them to Hugo Ekitike, and his Anfield unveiling could not have been scripted better.
Against Bournemouth, the Frenchman displayed clinical movement, slotting home the opener before providing the assist for Cody Gakpo soon after the break.
Beyond the goals, his mobility and pressing troubled defenders throughout the match. The reception he received upon leaving the pitch was one of appreciation, not just for his productivity, but also for the energy, the spark, the promise of things to come.
7. Michu (Swansea City)
August 2012, QPR v Swansea (18 Aug 2012)
Arriving with little fanfare from Rayo Vallecano, Michu produced a debut that elevated Swansea’s profile on the Premier League stage. He struck twice in a 5-0 dismantling of Queens Park Rangers, first capitalising on a mistake from distance before curling home a technically perfect finish.
His late effort against the crossbar underlined the confidence surging through his performance. For a player relatively unknown outside Spain, the display was transformational, propelling him into the conversation as one of the league’s most impactful bargain signings.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
August 2003, Man Utd v Bolton (16 Aug 2003)
The Premier League’s first glimpse of Cristiano Ronaldo came as a second-half substitute against Bolton Wanderers, and within minutes the teenager had changed the tempo of the game.
His stepovers, acceleration, and fearless approach unsettled defenders, energising Old Trafford and creating three further goals in what ended as a comfortable 4-0 victory.
While the rawness of his decision-making was still evident, the sense of a generational talent was unmistakable. Ronaldo’s debut offered a preview of the ambition and audacity that would one day carry him to the summit of world football.
5. Fabrizio Ravanelli (Middlesbrough)
August 1996, Middlesbrough v Liverpool (17 Aug 1996)
Middlesbrough’s capture of Fabrizio Ravanelli, fresh from Champions League success with Serie A's Juventus, was a landmark signing for the club.
The Italian striker marked his bow against Liverpool with a hat-trick that showcased intelligence, composure, and ruthless finishing. Each goal arrived at a crucial juncture, as Boro repeatedly fought back to earn a thrilling 3-3 draw.
His celebration, lifting his shirt over his head, became iconic overnight. Ravanelli’s impact may have been fleeting in English football, but his debut remains among the most emphatic introductions in the league’s history.
4. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)
August 2011, Man City v Swansea (15 Aug 2011)
Introduced as a substitute with half an hour remaining, Agüero wasted no time in electrifying the Etihad. Within minutes, he had scored, then followed with an audacious flicked assist for David Silva, before completing his cameo with a thunderous long-range strike in stoppage time as the match ended 4-0.
Three direct goal contributions in 31 minutes sent an unmistakable message: City had recruited a forward destined to define their modern era. Agüero’s debut was the perfect curtain-raiser to a career that would ultimately deliver club records and a title-winning moment etched in Premier League folklore.
3. Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
February 2016, Man Utd v Arsenal (28 Feb 2016)
Few debuts have carried the weight of expectation quite like Marcus Rashford’s. Thrust into the spotlight after scoring twice in Europe just days earlier, the teenager then stunned Arsenal by repeating the feat on his Premier League debut.
Two well-taken goals, followed by an assist, sealed a vital 3-1 victory and instantly elevated Rashford to cult status.
His maturity, pace, and composure belied his age, while the theatre of Old Trafford provided the perfect stage for his breakthrough. It was a debut that turned promise into certainty in the space of 90 minutes.
2. Erling Haaland (Manchester City)
August 2022, West Ham v Man City (7 Aug 2022)
Expectations were immense when Haaland arrived at Manchester City, yet he delivered with typical efficiency on his first Premier League outing.
A penalty converted with authority was followed by a trademark run in behind to score his second, completing a brace that silenced any early scepticism as City won two-nil.
The dominance he displayed that day was the opening chapter of a season in which he would break the league’s single-season scoring record. Haaland’s debut was not simply about goals, it was a statement of inevitability, a striker built to redefine the Premier League’s scoring landscape.
1. Ruud van Nistelrooy (Manchester United)
August 2001, Man Utd v Fulham (19 Aug 2001)
After a long wait due to injury, Sir Alex Ferguson got his man. Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s Premier League debut arrived with pressure attached, and he delivered decisively.
Against Fulham, United twice fell behind, only for the Dutchman to rescue them with two quick goals that highlighted his predatory instincts. The Red Devils eventually won 3-2.
Both finishes were a masterclass in timing and precision, hallmark traits that would see him dominate as one of Europe’s most feared forwards.
That debut was more than an introduction, it was a confirmation that Van Nistelrooy was the reliable spearhead Man United had been missing, setting the tone for a prolific career in England as he became one of the Red Devils' best forwards of all-time.
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