The Norwegian prodigy is struggling for fitness after his high-profile move to Germany but could still play on Saturday
Borussia Dortmund boss Lucien Favre will make a late call on whether to hand Erling Haaland a Bundesliga debut at Augsburg this weekend.
Dortmund beat off interest from a host of heavyweight European clubs to land the 19-year-old striker last month, paying a release clause of €22.5 million (£19m/$25m) to Salzburg.
Haaland netted 28 goals in 22 appearances for the Austrian champions this season but Favre conceded to concerns over his match fitness after missing the start of Dortmund’s mid-season training camp.
“As I said, we’ll see. Now, I can’t say,” Favre told reporters when asked if Haaland will be involved on Saturday.
“But he didn’t train from December 10 until the end of December. At the beginning of our training camp in Marbella he didn’t train, too.
“The time for the preparation was also really short. But yesterday he ran a lot and it was okay.”
Favre might be tempted not to rush Haaland with club captain Marco Reus and Thorgan Hazard set to bolster his frontline, having returned from their respective muscular injuries.
“The injured players trained a lot. Marco Reus and Thorgan Hazard trained every day,” Favre added. “They were every day here. We’ll see if they can play.
“In terms of injury, Marcel Schmelzer can’t play on Saturday, Tobias Raschl didn’t train this week and Thomas Delaney can’t play, too.”
Dortmund sit fourth in an intriguingly poised Bundesliga table, three points behind champions Bayern Munich and seven shy of leaders RB Leipzig at the halfway stage.
While much has been made about Haaland’s move to BVB, club president Reinhard Rauball has quickly called for patience when it comes to the teenager.
“Point one – we did not make the hype,” Rauball said. “Point two – he is 19 years old. Do me a favour and give him a chance to develop.
“We already trust him to help the team make a remarkable leap in performance.
“He is positioned in such a way that we need to keep him from any negative noise coming from outside the club. I am firmly convinced that he will settle at the club.”
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