Haaland´s debut delight: Rooney, Aguero, Ronaldo and other memorable bows

Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a hefty instant return on their €20million investment in Erling Haaland as the 19-year-old wonderkid produced a debut to savour on Saturday.

Introduced as a second-half substitute with Lucien Favre’s side 3-1 down at Augsburg, Haaland promptly scored a hat-trick to inspire a 5-3 victory.

The Norway international’s first moments in Dortmund colours are sure to live long in the memory and he is in good company when it comes to elite strikers announcing their arrival with a bang.

Here, we look back at some other standout debuts.

Wayne Rooney

The 18-year-old Rooney arrived at Manchester United from Everton amid huge fanfare after starring for England at Euro 2004, but he also suffered a metatarsal injury early in the Three Lions’ quarter-final defeat to Portugal. Fenerbahce’s September visit to Old Trafford was his first match back and it proved an unforgettable Champions League debut, with Rooney tucking away two terrific finishes before completing a hat-trick with a delicious free-kick. United won 6-2, the Stretford End had a new hero, and the rest is record-breaking club history.

The start of something special #OnThisDay  years ago, @WayneRooney made his #MUFC debut… pic.twitter.com/Uzkt8XKgba

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 28, 2019

Sergio Aguero

Aguero’s club record-breaking run on the other side of Manchester began on a balmy August evening in 2011. A Premier League campaign that would end with City’s then club-record signing snatching the title in career-defining style began with him on the bench and his new team-mates labouring, 1-0 to the good against newly promoted Swansea City. He slid in Micah Richards’ cross within 10 minutes of his second-half introduction and, after a clever overhead assist for David Silva, Aguero brought the house down by sealing a 4-0 triumph with a 30-yard piledriver.

Romario

A hat-trick with all three assists coming from home favourite Pep Guardiola ensured Romario was an instant hit at Barcelona. The pick of the bunch saw him spring the offside trap and control a Guardiola pass on his chest before looping a volley over Alberto Lopez from 20 yards to seal a 3-0 home victory over Real Sociedad in Barca’s 1993-94 LaLiga opener. The Blaugrana went on to win the title and Romario took the Pichichi with a tally of 30 goals.

Ronaldo

After a memorable but injury-plagued spell at Inter, Ronaldo returned to Spain in 2002 and joined former club Barcelona’s arch-rivals Real Madrid. Following concerns about his weight and fitness, he made his highly anticipated debut against Deportivo Alaves over a month after signing. Ronaldo replaced Javier Portillo and took just 61 seconds to make his mark before slotting home a second to complete a 5-2 triumph at a jubilant Santiago Bernabeu. He finished the season with 23 goals and silverware in LaLiga and the Intercontinental Cup.

Fabrizio Ravanelli

The Riverside Stadium was treated to a thriller in August 1996 when £7m signing Fabrizio Ravanelli scored a hat-trick on his Middlesbrough bow in a 3-3 draw with Liverpool. Having joined from European champions Juventus, the ‘White Feather’ brought Boro back on terms three times, first lashing home a penalty and celebrating in trademark shirt-over-head style, and then sliding home a second from close range to make it 2-2. Robbie Fowler’s second-half strike looked to have won it for the Reds until Ravanelli guided in his third of the game 10 minutes from time.

17/08 -On this day in 1996, Fabrizio Ravanelli became the first (and so far, only) player to score a hat-trick on his Premier League debut. He scored his treble in Middlesbrough’s 3-3 draw with Liverpool. Feather. pic.twitter.com/4Npf44f0yZ

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 17, 2019

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Dortmund and Augsburg fans could be forgiven for feeling a strong sense of deja vu on Saturday after Aubameyang’s exploits when the sides met in 2013. After joining from Saint-Etienne his first attempt on goal in the Bundesliga resulted in a goal as he converted a diving header. Aubameyang followed that up after the break with a lovely turn of pace and strike into the far corner. He made it a hat-trick by coolly rounding the goalkeeper as Dortmund thumped Augsburg 4-0.

Christian Vieri

The term “much-travelled” is one that very much fits for Vieri, who joined Inter for a then world-record sum of £32million after helping Lazio win the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1999. They were his ninth different club in as many professional seasons. Reuniting with Marcello Lippi, who he played for at Juventus, the man affectionately known as ‘Bobo’ started a prolific spell at San Siro with a treble against Hellas Verona and went on to score 123 goals in 190 Nerazzurri appearances.