Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc applauded Andriy Yarmolenko's eye-catching start in his bid to fill the void left by Ousmane Dembele.

The 27-year-old joined from Dynamo Kiev for a reported €25million in August, just three days after the departure of Dembele to Barcelona was agreed.

A substitute at Freiburg last weekend, Yarmolenko marked his first start with a stunning curling goal in Wednesday's 3-1 defeat to Tottenham in the Champions League.

And former midfielder Zorc believes the Ukraine attacker will only improve.

"We knew Andriy was capable of doing such things," Zorc told German newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten.

"Good footballers rarely need a lot of time to settle, [but] Andriy still has to get used to our playing rhythm over a longer period of time."

Dortmund manager Peter Bosz echoed Zorc's praise as he weighs up whether to retain Yarmolenko for Sunday's visit of Cologne.

"He knows what we expect of him. The first half against Tottenham was excellent," Bosz added in his pre-match conference.