Bundesliga
"Sancho is a fantastic footballer" - Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland has heaped praise on Jadon Sancho, citing the young England star as one of many reasons why he feels so vindicated by his decision to join Borussia Dortmund.
After scoring 29 goals in 27 appearances for Red Bulll Salzburg, Haaland had no shortage of big-name suitors during the January 2020 transfer window, but Dortmund - thanks in no small part to their reputation for giving top-level youngsters the platform to shine - won the race.
Haaland went on to score 16 goals in 18 games for BVB during the second half of 2019/20, helping himself to a 20-minute hat-trick on his Bundesliga debut in a 5-3 win over Augsburg.
Sancho, who swapped Manchester City for Dortmund at 17, assisted the Norway international's opener - the dynamic duo proving an instant hit.
"The levels of performance are so high and from the first second we just understood each other," Haaland told Soccerbible. "Jadon is obviously a fantastic footballer and he can reach the very top."
Watch: How Jadon Sancho & Erling Haaland hit it off at Dortmund
Haaland and Sancho - the latter being a taker and maker of some 68 goals in 78 Bundesliga games - are but two examples of teen titans turned footballing super heroes on Dortmund's watch.
USA international Christian Pulisic played in upwards of 100 first-team matches during a record-breaking five-year stint at the Signal Iduna Park; compatriot Gio Reyna, 17, is currently making all the right noises with the first team, while a new ruling means goal-scoring phenom Youssoufa Moukoko could be unleashed on the Bundesliga as early as November 2020, once he turns 16.
"Just in general how the club has been developing younger players for the however many years, that’s also something that triggered me," Haaland said regarding his decision to join Dortmund. "You see some big names that have played here.
"I think me and my father and the people around me we did good with the choice about the club and the people in the club that made me want to go there and the feeling about the club. And also, almost from the first second I felt like I belonged there. So from there it just got more and more easy to perform and to train and to be yourself very quickly. For me that’s important.
"In the end, it’s just about your feeling. Where is your best feeling? And for me this time it was Dortmund. And yeah, my feeling was right."
Watch: Dortmund's next generation in focus
Haaland, who closed out 2019/20 with a remarkable 13 goals in 15 Bundesliga matches, begins his first full season as a Dortmund player on 14 September, when the Black-Yellows face 3. Liga club Duisburg in the DFB Cup first round. Borussia Mönchengladbach provide the opposition on Bundesliga Matchday 1 five days later.
The 20-year-old is arguably the biggest threat to Bayern Munich counterpart Robert Lewandowski's chances of claiming a fourth successive top scorer's cannon - not that he's in the slightest bit fazed by the prospect.
"I always put a lot of pressure on myself, but I'm a bit ruthless," warned Dortmund's new No.9. "I always want more; I'm always hungry for more. That's a part of me."