Erling Braut Haaland Borussia Dortmund 2019-20Getty Images

'My first thought? Sh*t!' - Haaland arrival is 'piece of the puzzle' solved for Dortmund, says Gladbach boss

Erling Haaland's arrival at Borrusia Dortmund left Borussia Monchengladbach director of sport Max Eberl swearing at the thought of facing the Norway star, the 46-year-old has revealed.

The 19-year-old joined the Bundesliga outfit from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg earlier this month on a four-and-a-half year deal, and has already made an instant impact in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Coming off the bench in both of his games so far for the club, he bagged a 23-minute hat-trick against Augsburg before notching up another brace against Koln just under a week later.

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Haaland's prolific firepower has already sent a message out to the club's rivals as they fight Gladbach, league leaders RB Leipzig and holders Bayern Munich for the Bundesliga title, and Eberl has revealed just how he reacted to the news of the teenager's arrival.

"My first thought? Sh*t!" he recalled when speaking to broadcaster Nitro on Monday, before adding: "Can you say that?

"It's a piece of the puzzle that the were missing. Our competitor in the Bundesliga has made a great transfer."

Former Dortmund favourite Steffen Freund also commented on Haaland's impressive efforts so far, stating: "He already looks like the new wonder boy [of the club].

"If he only plays for a few minutes [per match] and continues to cause such a sensation, then he'll break the Bundesliga when he gets around to starting."

The youngster's former Red Bull Salzburg coach Jesse March described him as "someone for the big games" and added that he fully expected the Leeds-born attacker to thrive at his new home.

"If Dortmund can continue to get the ball close to the goal, he's going to deliver like he's on an assembly line," he told Transfermarkt.

Gladbach will host Dortmund in early March in one of the key games of the title race, as both look to get their edge on the other in pursuit of Leipzig and Bayern.

Marco Rose's side are looking to improve on last term's fifth-placed finish following this season's Europa League exit, though they are yet to recruit any new faces of their own during the mid-season transfer window.

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