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When will Cody Gakpo make his Premier League debut? Can Dutch star play for Reds against Real Madrid in the Champions League?

Liverpool have beaten Manchester United to Cody Gakpo’s signature, with the club officially announcing the arrival of the Netherlands international.

The Reds have confirmed a deal worth up to £45million with PSV Eindhoven, having acted quickly to snap up the forward after his impressive performances at the World Cup.

Liverpool are next in action against Leicester on Friday, December 30 but Gakpo won’t be able to feature in that, as he will not officially become a Reds player until January 1.

But he should be available to make his debut next week, with the earliest possible outing away to Brentford on Monday, January 2.

Yet his work permit may not have been approved so quickly, and the fact that the Dutch transfer window doesn’t open until January 3 could further complicate matters.



Speaking to the media, Klopp said: “What I heard now – so we are obviously very early, which is good – there might be a chance for Brentford.

“But I think not really, because the 1st of January is a Bank Holiday and, all the papers, other people have to sign on the 2nd until lunchtime.

“I’m not too positive that that will happen!

“We will not rush it anyway, so probably [against] Wolves.”

This means that Gakpo’s most likely Liverpool bow will be a third-round tie at home to Wolves on Saturday, January 7.

Here’s the transfer rules explained…

Can players be registered outside of the transfer window?

The transfer window doesn’t officially open until January 1, 2023.

Players can be signed outside of the transfer window, but they can’t be officially registered until the window is open.

This means that recently announced new signings – including Wolves’ Matheus Cunha and Newcastle’s Garang Kuol – can’t play for their new clubs until the window officially opens.

New Wolves man Matheus Cunha will have to wait until January to feature for the Old Gold

New Wolves man Matheus Cunha will have to wait until January to feature for the Old Gold

When is the latest a new signing can be registered to play?

Once the January transfer window opens, players can be registered right the way up until it closes on January 31.

But there are strict rules around games and submitting squads before matches.

All new signings must be registered by 12pm on the day before their new team play.

So, if someone is signed on the Friday before their new team play on Saturday, he would have to be registered by noon on the Friday.

But if the team play on Sunday or Monday, the player would have to be registered on Saturday or Sunday by 12pm at the latest.


What about the Champions League and European competitions – can January signings play in those?

Clubs playing in the knockout stages of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League are allowed to register a maximum of three new eligible players during the winter.

Clubs in European competitions just have to make sure they communicate their desired squad changes by 11pm on Thursday, February 2.

Since 2018/19, it no longer matters whether new signings have already played in the competition for another club, even for another club still in the competition.

Gakpo has played for PSV in the Champions League qualifying rounds and in the Europa League proper this season.

But he will still be free to play for Liverpool when they face Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League, with the first leg taking place in February and the second in March.