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Trawl around the internet at the minute and you’ll find tons of articles about the best debut seasons in Premier League history, and most of them will contain Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who was awarded the Golden Boot at the weekend after ending the season with 32 league goals.
The only problem? 2017/18 wasn’t technically Salah’s Premier League debut season, as he played two seasons with Chelsea a few years ago, albeit with very little impact after only making a handful of appearances.
The following five players, on the other hand, made a massive impact in their actual debut season, winning trophies, individual awards and the acclaim of practically everyone within the game. Here are 5 of the best debut seasons in Premier League history.
#1: Jurgen Klinsmann
When German striker Jurgen Klinsmann – who helped his country to a World Cup victory in 1990 – signed for Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 1994, it came as a surprise, largely because at the time, Spurs were seen as a somewhat struggling side – the 1993/94 season had seen them finish 15th, just 3 points above the relegation zone.
Klinsmann’s reputation also wasn’t exactly stellar with the British press, who had dubbed him a “diver” due to some of his more theatrical performances in drawing free-kicks and penalties for both club and country. It seemed like a move destined for failure, but instead, Klinsmann was the biggest revelation of the 1994/95 season.
He scored a header on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday and celebrated by diving to the ground – mocking his own reputation in a self-deprecating way. The move instantly turned him into a favourite both with the Tottenham fans and the press, and from there he went on to score 21 goals in the Premier League and 30 in all competitions.
While Spurs only finished 7th in the league, Klinsmann’s goals helped them to reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the German striker was awarded the Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year award.
A move to Bayern Munich in the summer of 1995 soured him in the eyes of many Spurs fans, but a move back to the team in 1997/98 saw him save the side from relegation by scoring 9 goals, making him a hero all over again.
His debut season in the Premier League remains one of the best in the competition’s history, largely because of the way he turned around his reputation as well as his goalscoring exploits.
#2: Fernando Torres
Nicknamed El Nino, Fernando Torres already carried the reputation of one of Europe’s most prolific strikers when he signed for Liverpool for a then-club record £20m from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007, but few observers expected him to make quite as much of an impact as he eventually did.
Torres was simply phenomenal in his first season for the Reds, sending records tumbling left, right and centre. He hit 33 goals in all competitions, with 24 of them coming in the Premier League – making him the most prolific foreign goalscorer in a debut season in English football history to that point.
He also matched the legendary Roger Hunt’s record of scoring in eight consecutive home league games, became the first player in 60 years to score consecutive hat-tricks at home, and became the first Reds player to score more than 20 league goals since Robbie Fowler in 1995/96.
While he didn’t win any silverware in his debut season at Anfield – indeed, he never won any silverware during his Liverpool career – he was named in the PFA Team of the Year and also came in third place in 2008’s Ballon d’Or, after also helping Spain to win Euro 2008.
Torres went on to win trophies – the FA Cup and Champions League – with Chelsea, but his first season at Liverpool was his best in Premier League action and remains one of the greatest debut seasons in the league’s history.
#3: Diego Costa
Combative striker Diego Costa had hit 27 league goals in 35 appearances for Atletico Madrid in 2013/14, but after a poor World Cup 2014 showing for Spain, more than a few eyebrows were raised when Chelsea paid £32m to bring him to Stamford Bridge ready for the start of the 2014/15 season. After all, that 2013/14 season had been the only one in which he’d scored more than 10 league goals in his career.
When the dust had settled in the summer of 2015 though, there could be no doubt that Costa’s debut Premier League season would have to be considered up there with the very best. In every possible way, the Brazil-born Spanish striker delivered in spades.
Chelsea went on to win their fourth Premier League title, and Costa’s goals played a massive part in their victory. He scored a total of 20 in the league, including 7 in his first 4 games, breaking a joint record that had been held by Sergio Aguero and Micky Quinn, the latter since the inaugural Premier League season.
And his lone goal in cup competitions came in the League Cup final, as Chelsea defeated Tottenham to claim another trophy in Costa’s debut season.
Of course, the striker’s dark side also shone through at times. While he became beloved by Blues fans, he hardly endeared himself to anyone else, living up to the combative reputation he carried from his days in La Liga. But a three-match ban for a stamping incident – as well as 8 yellow cards – couldn’t take the shine off one of the best debut seasons in Premier League history.
#4: Sergio Aguero
When Manchester City – newly minted thanks to the Abu Dhabi United Group buying out the club in the summer of 2008 – spent a fee close to £38m to bring Argentine striker Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid to the Etihad in the summer of 2011, a lot of fans were upset at the flexing of financial muscle. By the end of the 2011/12 season though, nobody could deny the impact that ‘Kun’ had on the club.
Aguero took just 9 minutes to score his first Premier League goal after coming on as a second-half substitute in a game against Swansea City, and by the time the game ended he’d scored 2 and created 1, with his performance being hailed as one of the all-time best Premier League debuts.
From there, the Argentine striker simply didn’t slow down at all. He scored 8 goals in his first 5 Premier League games – equalling Micky Quinn’s record from the inaugural Premier League season – and finished the season with 23 goals in the league and 30 in all competitions.
Of course, most notably, Aguero scored the most important goal of the season on the final day of the competition – hitting the winner in a 3-2 victory against Queens Park Rangers to secure City’s first ever Premier League title win.
Even if he’d been disappointing outside of that, such an important goal alone would probably net him a spot on this list – but the fact that he was fantastic throughout means his debut season was possibly the best of them all.
#5: N’Golo Kante
Only two players have ever won the Premier League title in back-to-back seasons with different clubs – the first, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, technically won titles with Chelsea in 2014/15 and Leicester City in 2015/16 but made no appearances for either side in league action. The second man, on the other hand, had far more impact. His name? N’Golo Kante.
Signed by Leicester from French side Caen in the summer of 2015, Kante only cost a paltry £5m and arrived as essentially an unknown. By the end of 2015/16 though, he’d helped the Foxes to their miraculous Premier League title victory and was widely recognised as perhaps the most effective midfielder in the whole country.
In a remarkable debut season, Kante played in all but one of Leicester’s Premier League fixtures and racked up some phenomenal statistics, putting in the most tackles (175, 31 more than any other player) and the most interceptions (157, 15 more than any other player).
He was named in the PFA Team of the Season, and in a famous quote, Steve Walsh – the man who initially scouted him for Leicester – said “they played three in midfield – Drinkwater in the middle and Kante on either side”.
The summer of 2016 saw him depart from the King Power Stadium for Chelsea – and subsequently, they won the Premier League title in the 2016/17 season while Leicester slipped down to 12th place, showing how much of an important role he’d played for them.
For playing such a huge part in the biggest upset title win in Premier League history, Kante’s debut season definitely ranks amongst the greatest.
