Joao Felix had a Chelsea debut to forget on Thursday night as he received a straight red card for a dangerous lunge on Kenny Tete in the Blues’ 2-1 defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The Portuguese loanee was giving a good account of himself in Graham Potter’s side as he looked lively from the start. He was involved in all the positive play the Blues were able to conjure and gave a glimpse of what he can offer them for the remainder of the season. However, his reckless challenge in the second half will see him miss Chelsea’s next three matches which includes a trip to Liverpool and a home clash with Fulham.
Chelsea had to spend £9.75 million to bring Felix to the club on loan from Atletico Madrid and his three-match suspension is going to cost the Blues over £2 million pounds from that fee plus the player’s £250k per week wages.
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Felix isn’t the first player to have a debut to forget and he certainly won’t be the last. Here are some other debuts in football history that went just as badly.
Jonathan Woodgate - Real Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao (2005)
After joining Real Madrid in 2004, it took Woodgate over a year to make his debut after various injury setbacks and it certainly wasn’t worth the wait. He scored a brilliant diving header into his own net 24 minutes into the game and that was just the beginning. Woodgate was later sent off in the 66th minute for a second yellow card. A year later, with 14 appearances for Los Blancos, Woodgate was shipped back to England joining Middlesbrough on loan before joining them permanently in 2007.
Alex Jankewitz - Southampton vs Manchester United (2021)
19-year-old defender Jankewitz was thrown into the Saints starting lineup for their Premier League trip to Old Trafford for his first start and it went horribly. Two minutes into the game he was given his marching orders as he caught Scott McTominay’s thigh with his studs and the referee didn’t hesitate to show him a straight red card. This set the tone for the match as United thrashed Southampton 9-0, the second time the Saints had lost by that margin.
Saul Niguez - Chelsea vs Aston Villa (2021)
There was a lot of excitement around Stamford Bridge in 2021-22 when they brought in Spanish midfielder Niguez from Atletico Madrid. He was expected to bring calmness and quality to the Blues midfield. No one could believe how bad his Chelsea debut went as he looked completely out of his depth against Aston Villa. He was thrown into the deep end and showed no signs of being able to swim as he looked like a headless chicken at times trying to chase the ball. To spare him further embarrassment, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel hooked him off at half-time for Jorginho.
Ali Dia - Southampton vs Leeds United (1996)
A debut that needs no introduction, Ali Dia is renowned for conning Graeme Souness into signing him for the Saints in 1996. The Senegalese striker said he was the cousin of George Weah and that was enough to convince the Scot to bring him in. Dia was handed his debut in a home match against Leeds United when he came on to replace the injured Matt Le Tissier and it soon became clear that the player had taken Souness for a fool. He instantly looked out of his depth and Le Tissier later said: ”He ran around the pitch like Bambi on ice; it was very embarrassing to watch."
Despite nearly scoring, the substitute was substituted in the 85th minute by Souness. Two weeks later, his contract was ripped up.
Gervinho - Arsenal vs Newcastle United (2011)
Ivory Coast winger Gervinho moved to the Emirates Stadium from Lille in the summer of 2011 and his first taste of Premier League action came against Newcastle. Unfortunately, he didn’t give the best first impression. After getting riled up by Newcastle’s Joey Barton, Gervinho raised his arms and struck the midfielder across the face to receive one of the most blatant red cards you will ever see.
Fernando Torres - Chelsea vs Liverpool (2011)
After completing a then-Premier League record £50 million transfer to Chelsea from Liverpool in January 2011, Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti opted to hand Torres his first start in blue against his former side. It is likely a decision he regrets in hindsight as it was a very forgettable debut. Not only did he suffer defeat against his ex-teammates, whom he was playing with only a week prior, he failed to make any sort of impact in the game which ultimately had a long-term effect on his Stamford Bridge career.
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