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The Premier League is the most watched and most popular football league across the globe. Thus, the new signings for a Premier League club come with a massive weight of expectations placed on them. A poor start at the new club puts them under the firing line whereas a positive start puts them in the limelight.
Mohamed Salah is one such example of a player setting the Premier League on fire. Though it's not quite his first season in the Premier League as he had featured for Chelsea in a brief and unsuccessful spell before, Salah has had an absolutely unbelievable season.
The tricky winger, who was signed from Roma for a massive fee, has left defenders gasping for breath in his spectacular run of 31 goals so far this season, the most in a season for a new club. He even has a chance to extend that and have a go at the record for most goals in a season.
Here, we take a look at the top 10 players with the best Premier League debut seasons ever-
#10 Kevin Phillips
Kevin Phillips was hammering in goals in the First Division with Sunderland but many expected both the Wearsiders and Phillips to struggle once they got promoted into the Premier League. However, Phillips took the Premier League by storm as he scored an astonishin 30 goals in the season, helping Sunderland to a remarkable seventh-place finish.
His goal tally of 30 league goals enabled him to win the European Golden Shoe and he till-date remains the only Englishman ever to win the prestigious award. He remained a consistent player over the next 5 years, though he was unable to match the exploits of his brilliant first season.
The remarkable goal scoring feats of Phillips has been overtaken only by Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Suarez and most recently by Mohamed Salah, amongst a galaxy of stars who have graced the Premier League.
#9 Diego Costa
Chelsea triggered Diego Costa's release clause of £32 million. The Spanish forward was signed from Atletico Madrid, after he struck 36 goals to fire his side to an unlikely La Liga title and a UEFA Champions League final. He carried his good luck and sparkling form all the way to West London as he went on to find the back of the net 20 times in the Premier League in his first season. He also scored against Tottenham in the League Cup final to ensure that the Blues completed the league title and League Cup double in his debut season.
Costa’s fiesty nature landed him in trouble with the FA on numerous occasions as he was constantly involved in ugly scuffles with rival players. Loved by the Chelsea fans, but hated by the rival fans, the Spaniard has always remained a controversial figure. But there’s no doubt that his arrival at Stamford Bridge rejuvenated a Chelsea side that had struggled domestically since their title win in 2009-10.
He scored 52 goals in 89 league appearances and fired the Blues to another Premiership title in 2016-17 before moving back to Atletico Madrid in January 2018.
#8 Ruud van Nistelrooy
Dutchman van Nistelrooy joined United a year later than scheduled following a serious ACL injury in the summer of 2000. He signed a year later for a club record £19 million and arrived with massive expectations. Having recovered successfully from the injury, the Dutchman took the league by storm as he netted 23 league goals and an incredible 36 in all competitions, with only Thierry Henry netting more in the Premier League.
His 10 Champions League goals propelled United to the semi-finals, and the Dutchman's stirring form enabled them to score 87 league goals, though it was not enough to pose a successful title challenge. van Nistelrooy's exploits also earned him the PFA Player of the Year title.
He registered even better goal scoring numbers the following season, with his league-high tally of 25 league goals helping United to win their eighth Premier League title in 11 seasons.
#7 Gianfranco Zola
Zola joined Chelsea from Parma for a bargain fee of £4.5m in November 1996 and proved an instant success. The Italian won the FWA Footballer of the Year award and became the first player to win the title despite not playing the whole season. The Italian fired Chelsea to a FA Cup title triumph, their trophy since 1970. Zola's attractive playing style immediately made him a fan favourite at Chelsea.
Zola ended the campaign with 12 goals and he netted 4 of those in that FA Cup run, including strikes against Portsmouth in the quarter-finals and Wimbledon in the semis. His arrival at the Stamford Bridge is seen as an important factor in Chelsea's renaissance, with the 1997 FA Cup win heralding the beginning of a trophy-laden spell that eventually led to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich buying the club in 2003.
#6 Fernando Torres
Fernando Torres arrived from boyhood club Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2007. The striker arrived from Spain and the impact he had on the Merseyside club wouldn't have been imagined even by the most passionate of supporters. 24 goals in 33 Premier League appearances set a record for the most prolific debut season for a foreigner, a record which has been taken apart by Mo Salah recently.
The Spanish forward scored in eight consecutive home league games, matching Roger Hunt’s Liverpool record. El Nino scored 6 goals en-route to Liverpool's journey to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League and he also scored a hat-trick in his only League Cup tie. On top of all this, Torres became the first player in 60 years to score consecutive home hat-tricks in the league.
Torres' sensational debut season at Liverpool and his role in Spain's Euro 2008 success in which he scored the lone goal in the final against Germany, saw him finish third in the Ballon d'Or voting behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
#5 Michu
Michu was signed by Swansea from Rayo Vallecano for just £2 million in the summer of 2012 as a replacement for Gylfi Siguerdsson. It was heralded as the best value for money signing of the season.
Michu began the season with a brace and an assist in a 5-0 rout against Queens Park Rangers, a game that set the tone for the rest of the campaign. The Spaniard became the talisman for Swansea's inspiring success story that season, as he ended the campaign with 22 goals to his name and 18 in the Premier League. He also led the Welsh side to a historic first League Cup title by scoring in a 2-0 win in the semifinal against Chelsea a 5-0 win in the final over Bradford City. He was named as the club's Player of the Season, both by his colleagues and his supporters. His staggering performances even earned him a Spanish cap.
Little did anyone know that it would end up being his only cap for the national team and the start of a steep downward slide. He could hardly even find the net in the next few seasons and will go down to be remembered as probably the best one-season wonders ever.
#4 Jurgen Klinsmann
Jurgen Klinsmann arrived at White Hart Lane in the summer of 1994 from French club Monaco for just £2 million. The 1990 World Cup winner with West Germany faced massive criticism in England for playing a crucial role in eliminating them from the same World Cup and also for his reputation to dive. He began with a goal on his debut away at Sheffield Wednesday in a 4-3 win for Spurs, and ended the season as his club's top scorer with 21 league goals (30 in all competitions).
Despite Klinsmann’s impact earning him the FWA Footballer of the Year award, Tottenham ended up seventh in the Premier League, way off from challenging for the European spots. Despite his successful debut campaign, the German decided to move to Bayern Munich at the start of the following campaign.
Klinsmann returned again to Tottenham for the second half of the 1997/98 season. His arrival enabled Spurs to narrowly escape relegation, as he contributed to 9 goals in just 15 league appearances.
#3 Jaap Stam
Japp Stam was signed by Manchester United in 1998 from PSV Eindhoven after enduring a trophyless campaign in the previous season. In his debut season, the Red Devils managed to win a historic treble by capturing the Premier League, FA Cup and the incredible Champions League triumph over Bayern Munich.
The Dutch centre back took little time to settle into the Utd back-line as he displayed his experience and maturity in marshaling the defense. He was also named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year that season and he got further recognition after being awarded the UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year award.
A treble and individual awards in your first year with the club is what dreams are made of!
#2 N'Golo Kante
Having just about survived relegation, Leicester City signed unknown quantity Kante from Caen for €8 million. The signing proved to be an absolute bargain as Kante spearheaded Leicester City's once-in-a-lifetime Premier League triumph. Though the likes of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez stole most of the limelight, Kante's sensational showings at the base of the midfield were what gave them the solidity and security at the back.
The Frenchman's tireless and no-nonsense performances in which he won countless tackles and made numerous interceptions to provide the assurance to the defense. He almost possessed an infinite amount of energy as he would charge into player after player without giving the opposition players any time to breathe.
He unsurprisingly earned a big money move to Chelsea next season and his absence was badly felt by 'The Foxes' as they were flirting around the relegation zone for the majority of the season . The Blues though went on to clinch the Premier League title with Kante again the architect of the triumph. This time though his efforts were recognized on a personal front too as he was picked up multiple individual awards viz. 'PFA Player of the Year', 'Premier League Player of the Season' and the 'FWA Footballer of the Year' along with the winner's medal.
#1 Sergio Aguero
It had to be him at the top of the list! Sergio Aguero was signed from Atletico Madrid for €45 million to lead the Manchester City revolution in 2011, just two months after they captured their first trophy in over 30 years.
Kun Aguero opened the scoring on his debut against Swansea City and there was no looking back after that. He had a fabulous first season at the club in which he netted 30 goals across all competitions, including 23 goals and also 7 assists in the Premier League. However, he saved his best for the last.
Manchester City went into the season finale against relegation-threatened QPR knowing that a win is all that would be needed to clinch them the Premier League title over bitter rivals Manchester United. United completed their match as champions because City were drawing 2-2 in their final match heading into stoppage time. That was when the little Argentine popped up in the box to receive a pass from Mario Balotelli and with a swish of his right boot sealed the title of the 95th minute. He sent the Manchester City fans into delirium and secured a position as a City legend.
The goal changed the Premier League forever as Manchester City began to dominate the league by winning it a further 2 times in the next six years and Aguero went on to become City's all-time top scorer.
