João Félix sent off for Chelsea: How many players have had a red card on their Premier League debut?
Less than an hour into his Chelsea debut the on-loan Atletico Madrid forward received a straight red for a dangerous tackle on Tete.
Portuguese forward João Félix struggled to make much of an impact at Atletico Madrid after his club record signing four years ago. But the 23-year-old has wasted little time in making an impression at his new club Chelsea, getting sent off on his debut on Thursday.
The forward was a surprise starter for the Blues after moving to Stamford Bridge on loan this week, with under fire manager Graham Potter hoping to add some spark to his side.
Félix showed some neat touches in the first half but was sent off just before the hour mark for a mistimed lunge on Tete. It brought his Premier League debut to a swift end and leaves Potter once again short on forwards for next week’s game against Crystal Palace.
Who else has been sent off on their debut?
While it may seem like a very unusual occurrence, there have actually been 21 previous examples of players being dismissed on their Premier League debuts. Félix become the 22nd player to be sent off in their first game in the league, and the 13th to have received their marching orders as a result of a straight red card.
Other notable players to have been dismissed on their debut are former Arsenal duo Gervinho and Laurent Koscielny.
Félix made it to the 58th minute before seeing red, making it the 12th-earliest dismissal on a Premier League debut. The unwanted distinction of fastest debut dismissal goes to former Manchester City midfielder Christian Negouai who received a straight red in the third minute of a game against Everton in 2004.
Here’s the full list of players sent off on their Premier League debut:
Federico Fazio
Samba Diakité
Clint Hill
Gervinho
Laurent Koscielny
Jack Colback
Kalifa Cissé
Bernardo Corradi
Iain Turner
Neil Kilkenny
Steven Reid
Aliou Cissé
Derek McInnes
Tomas Repka
Richard Rufus
Lee Hendrie
Michael Brown
Brian Carey
Jeroen Boere