Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that Cody Gakpo will be in contention to make his debut for the club in Saturday's FA Cup third-round tie with Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The Netherlands international has now finalised his £37m switch from PSV Eindhoven after the formalities of the transfer were completed on Tuesday.
Gakpo's move to Anfield was announced on Boxing Day, and he has been in the stands to witness the Reds beat Leicester City 2-1 before a 3-1 defeat to Brentford.
Gakpo would have been eligible to make his first appearance for Liverpool in the latter game on January 2, but the relevant paperwork was not completed in time.
However, the 23-year-old is now widely expected to earn his first minutes in Saturday's game, and Klopp has affirmed that he will be involved in some capacity.
Klopp stopped short of confirming whether Gakpo would be named in the first XI or on the bench, though, telling liverpoolfc.com: "Yes, he is in contention. He will be involved in the squad, of course.
"How exactly we will have to decide in the next few hours, but that's fine. First impressions of him are brilliant.
"With all these things, injured strikers and stuff like this, then you see a guy who is obviously a natural footballer on the pitch and knows where the goal is, it is a lift for everybody. So, that's cool and somehow he will be involved, definitely."
Elaborating on his previous comments in Friday's press conference, Klopp hailed Gakpo as a "joy to watch" and believes that the attacker's signing arrived at the "perfect moment" for his club.
"Cody has been in for two training days. It is really nice to have him, with our striker situation; he is a joy to watch. He is natural in the offensive part of the game and knows where the goal is," Klopp said.
"He looks fit and promising. Is he 100% fit? I don't know. The two sessions he's had were intense for him and it's new, so you feel it a bit more.
"He is a good footballer, good in small spaces. He likes to finish from distance and has a good shooting technique. He's a good dribbler. This is the first possible moment he could play and it is perfect; usually decisions are made later in January but it was early and I'm fine about the situation.
"The personality of a player is very important to me. We had a long conversation over the phone - I really think Cody is a very, very good person. His career so far says a lot about him. Perfect English - it makes it really easy."
Gakpo left PSV Eindhoven with 55 goals and 50 assists to show from 159 matches for the Eredivisie giants, while he scored three goals for the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup.
On a more negative note, Klopp has delivered the bad news that Virgil van Dijk will spend more than a month on the sidelines after sustaining a hamstring injury in Monday's 3-1 loss to Brentford. body check tags ::
