Which new signing was the best player in the opening round of the Premier League? – The Debate

The Athletics has launched a series of debates on various sports, in which two writers analyse a specific topic.

In this edition, Carl Anka and Jay Harris discuss which new signing in the 2024-25 Premier League impressed them most in the opening round of the competition last weekend.

There is just over a week left in the summer transfer window and Premier League clubs have been busy in recent months.

With the season now underway, we’ve asked Manchester United writer Carl and Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Jay (and our former Brentford correspondent) to weigh in on how the new signings at the top 20 clubs performed in the opening round of fixtures, and to single out one player as their standout performer.

Let us know below who was the best player in the 10 matches of the first match day.

Karel: Hi Jay, congratulations on your new role as Tottenham Hotspur reporter. I think it’s great that you also went to watch Brentford this weekend. In this opening round of matches, 63 players made their Premier League debuts. I suggest you take a pick: do you want to talk about the goalscorers first, or has another newcomer impressed you?

Jay: Originally I wanted to see Igor Thiago, Brentford’s record signing and likely replacement for Ivan Toney, make his debut, but he suffered a knee injury in pre-season that will keep him out for months.

So let’s start with another striker. Because I was also at the King Power Stadium on Monday to watch Dominic Solanke’s debut for Tottenham against Leicester City. Spurs are paying Bournemouth £65m in the hope that Solanke will solve all their problems in front of goal – Son Heung-min (17) and Richarlison (11) were the only Tottenham players to reach double figures last season.

Get the latest transfer news on The Athletics…

But it was a frustrating night for him, missing a couple of great chances in a 1-1 draw, including a free header at the far post.

GALLING DEEPER

How did Dominic Solanke perform on his debut for Tottenham Hotspur?

I still think there was enough to suggest he will be successful at Spurs.

Karel: Sure, sure… but if not, how excited should their fans be for Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray?

Bergvall and Gray came on for Spurs at Leicester after 78 minutes (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Jay: Bergvall’s first action after coming off the bench was to tackle a Leicester midfielder, before executing a silky smooth roll of the ball. Unfortunately, he will be remembered for losing the ball deep in his own half, which led to a chance for Leicester, with Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario shouting at the Swedish teenager for his carelessness. It was a harsh lesson, but thankfully it wasn’t a costly mistake.

GALLING DEEPER

‘My gut feeling always said: Spurs’ – Lucas Bergvall’s road to fame (with a chase)

Gray, who is also 18, wasn’t involved too much but made some great tackles.

Speaking of exciting young players, 19-year-old Facundo Buonanotte has been tearing through Tottenham’s midfield on a number of occasions. I wondered why Brighton let him go for a season. But his parent club looked great against Everton on Saturday, didn’t they?

GALLING DEEPER

‘My gut feeling always said: Spurs’ – Lucas Bergvall’s road to fame (with a chase)

Karel: Yes, if you’re a player new to the Premier League, Brighton could offer you the best start of your life. That’s not to say Brighton are immune to mistakes in the transfer market (nobody is), but Yankuba Minteh and Mats Wieffer slotted into their starting lineup at Goodison Park with ease.

GALLING DEEPER

Training under the youngest manager in the league: tennis balls and tough workouts

It’s a shame that Minteh got injured and had to be substituted at the end of the first half. He had created three chances and was in good form in the Premier League.

Jay: Moving on…we need some choices, Carl. We’ve talked about Solanke’s struggles, but there was one attacker who jumped right in…

Karel: Hmm, well, Joshua Zirkzee doesn’t quite get my vote, despite scoring the winning goal on his official debut for Manchester United.

His finish against Fulham reminded me of Ivorian striker Sebastien Haller’s winning goal in the Africa Cup of Nations final against Nigeria in February; he used the bottom of his foot to delicately guide a cross into the corner. It may seem simple, but it takes a deft touch and a great sense of timing to pull it off successfully.

I don’t think Zirkzee will finish the season with 15 Premier League goals (no offence, just a comment on how much time he spends outside the penalty area helping others), but I’m happy he scored on day one.

Zirkzee scored the winning goal for Manchester United on Friday (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Also a word to his new United colleague Noussair Mazraoui: calm and composed in possession, tracking the inside runners and stopping an attempted cutback. United manager (and ex-Ajax coach) Erik ten Hag has a soft spot for signing current or former Ajax players (including Mazraoui), but if they can all perform their duties so well, I don’t think many United fans will mind.

Jay: Funny you should mention Mazraoui… he impressed me the most of all the new signings.

I saw him play live a few times for Morocco at the 2022 World Cup.

With Achraf Hakimi’s qualities being used further forward, Mazraoui has been filling in at left-back on international duty. Morocco played Spain, Portugal and France in the knockout stages of that World Cup, so they had limited possession and I didn’t get a good sense of Mazraoui’s ability on the ball.

He looked very confident against Fulham and is adept at disguising his intentions with clever body feints. Everyone knows Aaron Wan-Bissaka is reliable in defence but his passing range is limited. Mazraoui immediately made United look more composed. He is 26 and has a wealth of top-level experience, which was clear on Friday. Selling Wan-Bissaka to West Ham for £15m and buying Mazraoui for a similar price is a fantastic and sensible deal that I can’t imagine United could have pulled off a year ago.

Karel: I can’t disagree with that, but my pick for the weekend is Amadou Onana.

I still don’t quite understand how Aston Villa signed him from Everton for ‘only’ £50m, but it was a sensible and simple way to replace Douglas Luiz, who has left for Italian side Juventus.

The Belgian scored a cracking header at the near post in the first five minutes against West Ham, but what was most impressive was how he did his defensive work, taking up ground in midfield and regaining possession. Back in October 2019, Michael Cox wrote a piece for The Athletics on how the playing styles of the top six clubs in the Premier League can best be defined by central midfielders.

In his four years at Leicester, Youri Tielemans was at his best when combined with an athletic ball winner. Onana can do that for him at Villa, but the most promising thing about the 23-year-old is that he has the potential to do so much more.

Villa manager Unai Emery is an excellent coach who enjoys making good players better. I bet Onana’s man-of-the-match award on Saturday will be the first of many this season.

He also has a beautiful singing voice.

What a talented young man.

Onana also scored at the weekend (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)

Jay: I’m not sure if this is cheating, given that we’re talking about debuts, but Ipswich Town’s Omari Hutchinson has to be singled out. He spent last season on loan at Ipswich but has now joined permanently from Chelsea, and he looked dangerous against Liverpool. Another player to keep an eye on is Crystal Palace’s Daichi Kamada. He has the difficult task of replacing Michael Olise as Eberechi Eze’s partner in crime, but there were some neat tricks against Brentford that suggest they could be fun together too.

Karel: Yeah, that’s cheating, Jay. Stick to your guns. Mazraoui is your man, but it’s good to keep an eye on the others.

(Top photo by Noussair Mazraoui: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images; design Dan Goldfarb)