From Ronaldo to Camavinga: How Europe’s debutants fared

FT Desk

Updated: 23 May 2023 08:54 CDT
6 min read

Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United, Premier League, 2021/22 — © ProShots

This past weekend, we saw a host of players involved in the biggest transfer deals of the summer make their debuts for their new club.

From Cristiano Ronaldo’s second debut for Man Utd to Antoine Griezmann’s return at Atletico Madrid to Gigi Donnarumma at PSG – there were bows for a number of top players.

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Here’s how they got on.

Odsonne Edouard (Crystal Palace)

As Premier League debuts go, few get any better than Odsonne Edouard’s for Crystal Palace on Saturday following his summer move from Celtic.

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Edouard entered the pitch against Tottenham in the 84th minute and proceeded to score twice in a 3-0 victory.

His first goal came just 27 seconds after coming on!

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Aaron Ramsdale both had steady debuts for Arsenal following their transfers from Bologna and Sheffield United, respectively.

Takehiro Tomiyasu won 5 out of 5 aerial duels in the first half. 🇯🇵 #AFC pic.twitter.com/XTfwCnj3LZ
— Chris Wheatley (@ChrisWheatley_) September 11, 2021

Arsenal were in crisis going into the game against Norwich having lost all three of their Premier League games without scoring.

Tomiyasu helped Arsenal to a clean sheet before being withdrawn on 62 minutes in a 1-0 win. Ramsdale played the full 90 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)

Cristiano Ronaldo made his much-awaited second debut for Manchester United as they hosted Newcastle United on Saturday.

🏅 @Cristiano claimed our Man of the Match award on Saturday...

Who do you think will be our ꜱᴛ⭐️ʀ ᴍᴀɴ in Switzerland? 🤔👇#MUFC | #UCL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 14, 2021

It came as no surprise that Ronaldo would instantly become the hero as he scored Man United’s first two goals, both from close-range, in a 4-1 victory.

Expect plenty more goals from the 36-year-old this season.

Saul Niguez (Chelsea)

Saul Niguez struggled during his Chelsea debut on Saturday, following his summer loan move from Atletico Madrid.

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He was off the pace and caught in possession a number of times in the first half before manager Thomas Tuchel hauled him off at half-time for Jorginho.

Chelsea won the game 3-0, with Romelu Lukaku scoring two goals.

Gianluigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes (PSG)

Gigi Donnarumma and Nuno Mendes made their PSG debuts on Saturday evening following their moves from AC Milan and Sporting Lisbon, respectively.

Donnarumma had very little to do and kept a clean sheet in a 4-0 thrashing of Strasbourg.

Gianluigi Donnarumma kept a clean sheet on his Ligue 1 debut for PSG.

A comfortable afternoon for the Italian. 🧤 pic.twitter.com/lL9pq9jy19
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) September 11, 2021

Meanwhile, Nuno Mendes came on as a substitute for the final four minutes.

Marcel Sabitzer (Bayern Munich)

Marcel Sabitzer was introduced in the 59th minute for his Bayern Munich debut on Saturday.

Ironically, his debut was against the team he joined Bayern from this summer in Leipzig.

His new team coasted to a 4-1 away victory .

Moise Kean (Juventus)

Moise Kean had a nightmare second debut for Juventus after returning to the club this summer from Everton.

He came on as a substitute at Napoli on 82 minutes with the scores level at 1-1.

But he then completely misjudged the flight of a corner just two minutes later, allowing Kalidou Koulibaly to win the game 2-1 for Napoli.

Franck Ribery (Salernitana)

The ex-Bayern Munich and France legend Franck Ribery completed a much-publicised free transfer to newly-promoted Serie A side Salernitana earlier this week.

He made his debut as a substitute on Sunday in their trip to Torino but his team were already losing 2-0 when he was introduced on 67 minutes.

He almost set up a goal for teammate Federico Bonnazoli but Salernitana ended up getting thrashed 4-0.

Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid)

Antoine Griezmann made his second debut for Atletico Madrid in their game at Espanyol following his shock deadline day transfer from Barcelona.

Griezmann started the match on Sunday but was disappointing and his team were trailing 1-0 when he was substituted for Joao Felix on 58 minutes.

Atletico then turned the game around in the closing stages, with Yannick Carrasco equalising on 79 minutes and substitute Thomas Lemar clinching a dramatic 2-1 victory nine minutes into stoppages.

Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid)

Eduardo Camavinga had a dream debut for Real Madrid. He scored just six minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute in the 5-2 win against Celta Vigo.