Players making their Champions League debuts this season will wear special shirt patches that are removed after the match and turned into trading cards.

The new “Debut Patch” programme has been introduced by UEFA and Fanatics as part of an extended partnership covering the organisation’s club competitions.

Every player appearing in the Champions League for the first time will wear an individual patch during the match. It will then be collected, authenticated and inserted directly into a unique one-of-one Topps card bearing the player’s signature.

The arrangement means debutants must complete one of the most important matches of their careers while also producing a piece of licensed merchandise.

Manchester United players Bryan Mbeumo and Carlos Baleba are among the Premier League newcomers who could wear the patch this season. Each would receive a specially altered shirt before entering the pitch, even if their first appearance lasts only a few minutes as a substitute.

The card will form part of the Topps Champions League Chrome collection released later in the campaign. Similar programmes in American sport have produced highly valuable cards, explaining the decision to place collectible components directly onto footballers before they have made the appearance being commemorated.

Previously, a Champions League debut produced a statistic, several photographs and, occasionally, a memorable performance.

It will now also produce an authenticated object that can be removed from the player’s shirt and placed inside a packet.

The players will concentrate on winning the match. Topps will concentrate on recovering the patch in saleable condition.