Erling Braut Haaland marks Dortmund debut with spectacular hat-trick in 23 minutes

Having captured the imagination of the world with his breathtaking performance at the Under-20 World Cup in Poland last summer, Erling Braut Haaland earned a move to Austrian giants RB Salzburg.

He kept up his impressive form in the Austrian Bundesliga and scored five goals in his first three league matches, helping his club consolidate their efforts to win a seventh straight league crown.

The 19-year-old was, however, not a flat-track bully and he took his displays with him to the Champions League, where he became the first player in history to score in each of his first five matches in the competition.

Haaland ended the group stage as the second-highest goalscorer in the tournament with eight goals and even though Salzburg got eliminated from the group stage, it did not stop the rest of Europe from taking attention.

A host of clubs including Juventus, Manchester United, and RB Leipzig engaged in a battle for his signature but it was ultimately Borussia Dortmund who won the race and he left Salzburg with an impressive record of 28 goals and seven assists from just 22 matches.

The Rhine side are no strangers to producing legendary strikers, with Robert Lewandowski and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang having graced the Signal Iduna Park in recent years but there are several reasons for Dortmund to feel optimistic with Haaland's capture.

For starters, they have not effectively replaced Lewandowski since he departed and although Aubameyang is a world-class goalscorer in his own right, the Gabonese international lacked the physical presence that his predecessor offered, while Alcacer has battled with injuries since his breathtaking start at the club.

In many ways, Erling Haaland is the prime definition of a complete striker. Standing at At 1.94 m, the Norwegian international is a considerable aerial threat on setpieces, while his incredible physique and holdup play can see him function as a perfect target man.

However, he is not a one-trick pony and has drawn comparisons to the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to their similar build and like the Swede, he possesses incredible technique despite his heights and is almost as comfortable shooting with his weaker right foot as he is with his dominant left.

Spotting the number 17 jersey, Haaland started his first match for his new club on the bench but with Borussia Dortmund trailing 3-1 after 55 minutes, their new recruit was handed his debut by Lucien Favre in the 56th minute and just three minutes later, he opened his account in Germany.

He showed great positioning and converted a pass from Jadon Sancho with a one-time left-footed finish with what was basically his first touch in the game.

On the 70th minute mark, Thorgan Hazard unselfishly squared for him to grab his brace when he could have tapped into an empty net and Haaland's hat-trick was completed nine minutes later when he was played through by Marco Reus before curling a low finish past Tomas Kubeck.

Incredibly this was his sixth hat-trick of the season, with trios having come on his debut in the Austrian Cup, Champions League and Bundesliga.

New league, new country, new club, same old Erling Haaland scoring goals.