Marco Reus says he hopes new Borussia Dortmund signing Erling Haaland can replicate the success of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after the Norwegian scored a hat-trick on his debut.
Haaland, who signed from Red Bull Salzburg earlier in January, came on as a second-half substitute when his team were trailing 3-1 against Augsburg on Saturday, before turning the game on its head with a remarkable hat-trick to seal a 5-3 win.
Dortmund, who sit fourth in the Bundesliga seven points adrift of leaders RB Leipzig, trailed 3-1 early in the second half before Haaland was introduced, triggering the beginning of a memorable fightback.
And afterwards, club veteran Reus talked up the Norwegian’s chances of emulating ex-Dortmund striker Aubameyang, who made his name at Signal Iduna Park before leaving for Arsenal in 2018.
"He is very calm, but very ambitious," said captain Reus of his new team-mate. "Erling trains incredibly hard. I think the last guy to make his debut in Augsburg was Aubameyang, and he scored three goals too.
“If it becomes the same kind of success story, I'd be all for that. Erling is making a good impression and he got off to a superb start today."
There had been talk of Haaland leaving Salzburg for Manchester United earlier in the season, after he scored 28 goals in 22 games for the Austrian side, including five hat-tricks.
But instead he was snapped up by Dortmund, and had begun to leave his mark on the team within three minutes of his introduction, pegging Augsburg back to 3-2 before Jadon Sancho equalised moments later.
Haaland then put Dortmund ahead for the first time with 18 minutes left when he tapped home after Thorgan Hazard got in behind the Augsburg defence and completed his treble when captain Marco Reus played him into the area, slamming the ball home to make it 5-3.
"I am pretty relaxed about it, I don't really know why," the son of former Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City player Alf-Inge Haaland said of his stunning feat.
"I'm at a fantastic club with great team-mates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for me."
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