Sergio Aguero, Kenny Dalglish, Fernando Torres and more big money debut hits and misses
Sergio Aguero, Man City's £38m signing from Atletico Madrid, scored a brace on his Premier League debut against Swansea to begin justifying his heft fee immediately. When it comes to big signings and debuts, a large fee doesn't always guarantee a good start. In fact, it can prove to be a huge weight on some players shoulders…
Kenny Dalglish
VERDICT: IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE
Liverpool manager Bob Paisley signed the current Reds boss from Celtic in 1977 for a British record £440,000, as a replacement for the departed Kevin Keegan. It didn't take long for the Scotland striker to win over any Kopites who might have harboured reservations about his ability to shine in English football – seven minutes in fact. That's how long it took for Dalglish to score against Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park in a 1-1 draw and against Newcastle on his Anfield debut.
ALAN SHEARER
VERDICT: IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE
When manager of Blackburn Rovers, Dalglish, backed by chairman Jack Walker's cash, paid Southampton £3.3m for the striker ahead of the Premier League's first season. Big Al opened his Rovers account in style with two stonking strikes against Crystal Palace in a 3-3 draw in 1992. He ended the season with 16 goals, one short of talkSPORT'S Weekend Sports Breakfast host Quinny, – although Shearer did miss half the season with injury!
Fernando Torres
VERDICT: DISASTROUS DEBUT
Considering Roman Abramovich shelled out £50m to bring the Spain international to Chelsea from Liverpool, the Blues owner and club supporters were right to expect a little more from their new striker. However, by the end of his debut – against Liverpool, no less – it was the Reds fans feeling they had the better end of the deal, especially when Torres was substituted after an invisible 66 minutes in a 1-0 home defeat for his new club.
JIMMY GREAVES
VERDICT: IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE
Goals is the only word to describe Jimmy Greaves. Tottenham manager Bill Nicholson rescued him from an unhappy time at Milan in 1961 and added the striker to his double-winning side. It cost Spurs a then-staggering £99,000 to take prolific goal scorer Greaves to north London and he promptly scored a hat-trick against Blackpool in a 5-2 thrashing at White Hart Lane. He actually scored on every one of his debuts; as a 17-year-old for Chelsea against Spurs in 1957, for England against Peru in 1959, for Milan against Botafogo in 1961 and for West Ham against Man City in 1970.
TONY COTTEE
VERDICT: IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE
Everton made the striker Britain's most expensive player when they paid West Ham £2m for him in 1988 and he began justifying his price tag with a hat-trick against Newcastle on the opening day of the season. Cottee netted his first two before half-time and slotted home a third against Magpies debutant Dave Beasant after the interval in a 4-0 win. Cottee actually scored on his first West Ham start, too - a 3-0 win over Spurs.
JOSE ANTONIO REYES
VERDICT: DISASTROUS DEBUT
After a Premier League cameo appearance against Man City, the £17m signing made his full debut for the Gunners at Middlesbrough in the League Cup and it went horribly wrong. The Spaniard scored an own goal five minutes before the end to send Boro through to the 2004 final. He was eventually loaned to Real Madrid in 2006 and since 2007 has been at city rivals Atletico.
Jonathan Woodgate
VERDICT: DISASTROUS MISS
Amazingly, Real spent £13m on a defender known as 'sicknote' – injury meant it took him 14 months to make his first appearance for the Galacticos following his transfer from Newcastle. When his debut finally came – against Athletic Bilbao in 2005 – he scored an own goal and was later sent off for a second bookable offence. He moved back to Britain in 2007, first joining Middlesbrough, then Tottenham, where persistent injuries saw him released before Stoke City snapped him up.
JAAP STAM
VERDICT: DISASTROUS DEBUT
Sir Alex Ferguson took the Netherlands centre back to Old Trafford in 1998 and despite proving to be vital to Man United, his start against champions Arsenal went terribly. Gunners star Nicolas Anelka ran him ragged as he ran in to score the third goal in Arsenal's 3-0 win in the Charity Shield at Wembley. Man United and Stam, though, won the 1998/99 treble, kept 13 clean sheets and conceded 37 goals, so a bad debut needn't mean a bad season!
STAN COLLYMORE
VERDICT: IMPRESSIVE ENTRANCE
Stan The Man wasted no time settling into the Liverpool side following his record £8.5m transfer from Nottingham Forest in 1995. Midway through the second half, talkSPORT presenter Collymore weaved his way through two Sheffield Wednesday defenders before rifling a shot straight into the top corner from 25 yards out. The goals didn't stop there and by the time he left Anfield, he had scored 35 goals in 81 Reds appearances. Money well spent, Roy Evans.
CHRIS SUTTON
VERDICT: DISASTROUS DEBUT
After a successful strike partnership with Alan Shearer at Blackburn, Sutton moved to Chelsea in 1999 for £10m. On his Blues debut – a 4-0 win against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge – he was hauled off with 17 minutes left to play, having missed clear cut chances an expensive striker was expected to score. After his departure to Celtic in 2000, former chairman Ken Bates said: “There is no escaping the fact Sutton was a disaster. His attitude wasn't right towards the end. He wasn't good for Chelsea.” In all, he scored once in 28 league games, though his solitary goal came against Man United in the 5-0 drubbing. And Massimo Taibi was in goal...