Newcomer from Real Sociedad, Arsen Zakharyan, was included in the squad for today’s match against Las Palmas. A very good moment to debut in the Spanish championship. The rival has just returned to the league and has a clearly weaker composition. Therefore, Imanol Alguasil could well give the Russian a first opportunity to prove his worth.
And we remember how some important Russian footballers made their debut in 21st century Europe. In order not to look into the distant past, they took those who went to the most important championships after the successful Euro 2008. And as RPL status players.
Secrets of Zakharyan’s transfer to Spain:
“I collected 33 reports on him.” Why Zakharyan and Royal Society were chosen
Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal)
Age at debut: 27 years
debut date: February 21, 2009
Adversary: Sunderland (0:0)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 63 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Andrei Arshavin at Arsenal
Photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Arshavin was first introduced in London two and a half weeks after closing the deal with Zenit. The match against Sunderland is the first in which Andrei entered the candidacy. And from there – immediately to the base. Rosicky and Fábregas were injured, so Wenger had no special alternatives.
But Andrei already from the first match impressed everyone with his dribbling, speed and sharp thinking. He was one of the best on the field, but by the middle of the second half he was tired, so he was substituted. After that, Arsenal lost the spark in attack. The match ended 0-0, although the Londoners played enough to win.
Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham)
Debut age: 26 years
debut date: September 15, 2008
Adversary: Aston Villa (1:2)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 90 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Roman Pavlyuchenko at Tottenham
Photo: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images
Pavlyuchenko, like Arshavin, did not immediately make his Premier League debut. This is the break for international matches. But in the first game, the Spurs flew from the start, coming out along with Darren Bent. And he disappeared. The next day, the English press strongly criticized the expensive Russian striker, who did not show anything in the first match. By the way, lost. The early substitution of Modric, who left due to injury, did not play in his favor.
Pavlyuchenko himself later recalled that for the first month he did not really understand what was happening to him. New training, language, culture. I got used to it later. How to start scoring.
Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart)
Debut age: 25 years
debut date: August 7, 2009
Adversary: Wolfsburg (0:2)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 90 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Pavel Pogrebnyak in Stuttgart
Photo: Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images
Pogrebnyak burst into the Bundesliga with force. The coach put him in the starting position almost immediately after signing the contract, in partnership with Kakau. Pavel definitely did not fail in the first game, receiving well-deserved praise from partners and coaches. As he was always active, clinging to the ball a lot, but he couldn’t score. And Stuttgart lost.
But a week later, Pogrebnyak scored the first goal of his career in Germany – Freiburg.
Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea)
Debut age: 26 years
debut date: September 23, 2009
Adversary: CPR (1:0)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 69 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Yuri Zhirkov at Chelsea
Photo: Ned Dishman/Getty Images
Shortly after arriving in London, Zhirkov was wounded. As a result, at the start of the season, new coach Carlo Ancelotti could not count on the Russian. The Russian did not recover until September, but his debut did not provoke a strong reaction. No, Yuriy did not fail in the left-back position (it was difficult to do against QPR), only in the same game, after a long hiatus, Joe Cole returned. He got the main attention.
In general, Zhirkov was assessed positively, but everyone understood: Ancelotti would not change the mechanism of work in the Premier League, because the team was confidently in first place. Therefore, Yuri played in the English cups and in the Champions League. And he made his Premier League debut only in December.
Khokhlov makes recommendations to Zakharyan:
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“Arsen will be recognized everywhere.” Valuable advice for Zakharyan from Khokhlov
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton)
Debut age: 24 years
debut date: August 30, 2009
Opponent: Wigan (2:1)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 3 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov
Photo: Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Another Russian entered the field almost immediately after signing the contract. True, he, unlike the rest, he is not in the main team. Everton drew with Wigan and David Moyes sent Bilyaletdinov onto the field with the third replacement. Probably waiting for a miracle.
And it happened. But without the participation of Diniyar. Already in added time, the former CSKA striker Jo took a penalty, which Baynes converted. And Bill himself only touched the ball a couple of times. But already in the next game, in the Europa League with AEK, he made three assists.
Alexander Golovin (Monaco)
Debut age: 22
debut date: September 21, 2018
Adversary: “Nim” (1:1)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 18 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Alexander Golovin in the match against Borussia Dortmund
Photo: Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Golovin almost immediately after his transfer to Monaco suffered a nasty injury and missed a month and a half. Therefore, the debut was postponed until mid-September, but they were looking forward to it. After all, the team started badly, and high hopes were pinned on the entry into the field of the most expensive newcomer.
The debut went well. Golovin was active, the ball went through him in attack, but this did not lead to effective actions. Monaco equalized and continued an unsuccessful run, eventually ending with Jardim’s sacking.
How the new season started for Golovin:
Golovin had a dismal performance for Monaco, but the team scored four. The party was almost in a play.
Fyodor Smolov (Celtic)
Debut age: 29 years
debut date: February 1, 2020
Adversary: Valencia (0:1)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 13 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Fedor Smolov scored against Barcelona
Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
Smolov stormed onto the Spanish pitches immediately after the Lokomotiv training camp. Celta lost 0-1 and the coach intensified the attack with all his strength. One of the options was the Russian, who had 13 minutes in the opening game. The result: a success, three accurate passes and one imprecise. Celta lost, but Fedor was not particularly noticeable.
He started the next match and two weeks later he scored the first goal against Real Madrid. But that is another story.
Alexei Miranchuk (Atalanta)
Debut age: 25 years
debut date: October 21, 2020
Adversary: Midtjylland (4:0)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 10 minutes, 1 goal
Alexey Miranchuk
Photo: Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images
Miranchuk came to Atalanta with a minor injury, but the main thing is that the coach believed in him. For the first time, Gasperini released a player at the end of October, for the final part of a game already won in the Champions League. And Miranchuk did not disappoint, scoring eight minutes later.
It seemed that this was the beginning of a great story, but then the footballer sat on the bench for four matches, where he spent most of his time at the club.
Alexander Kokorin (Fiorentina)
Debut age: 29 years
debut date: February 5, 2021
Adversary: Inter (0:2)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 16 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Alexander Kokorin
Photo: Gabriele Maltinti/Getty Images
Kokorin arrived at Fiorentina without any preparation. But we found out later and on debut day he was very disappointing. A minimum of useful actions with high expectations. The team lost to Inter.
In Italy they urged not to rush, to give the attacker time, but he never recovered. However, he left for Cyprus to revive his career only after a year and a half in Florence.
Andrei Lunev (Bayer)
Debut age: 30 years
debut date: December 9, 2021
Adversary: Ferencvaros (0:1)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 90 minutes, 1 goal conceded
Andrey Lunev
Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
The goalkeeper was waiting for his first entry into the field for six months. Before that, he watched Lukasz Hradecki’s matches in the Championship, the Cup and the Europa League only from the bench. But in the last round of the European Cup (which had not already decided anything from a tournament point of view), he was still given a chance. Lunev played exactly, despite the fact that the team lost 0:1.
“More, more,” he wrote on social media after the game. But he the next time he entered the field six months later. He was soon released again. Here the wait ended.
Daler Kuzyaev (Le Havre)
Debut age: 30 years
debut date: August 13, 2023
Adversary: “Montpellier” (2:2)
Number of minutes and effective actions: 86 minutes, 0 goals and assists
Daler Kuzyaev
Photo: ZUMA/TASS
Kuzyaev was invited to Le Havre as the main star. Not only because he is now the most expensive player on the team (10 million euros according to Transfermarkt). Therefore, already in the first match, the Russian was thrown into the main team against the strong Montpellier.
The match ended in a draw, but some felt that Kuzyaev’s shortcomings in defense led to at least one goal. At the same time, they rightly noted the creativity in the attack. Already in the second game, Daler scored. And this is only the beginning.
How Kuzyaev scored the first goal in France:
“Kuzyaev is our Toni Kroos!” The Russian thrashed France with a magnificent goal in the top nine
