Jurgen Klopp yet to decide if Takumi Minamino will make Liverpool debut against Everton in FA Cup third round

Klopp may hand new signing his Liverpool debut due to growing list of injuries

Jurgen Klopp will leave the decision whether to hand new signing Takumi Minamino his Liverpool debut against Everton this weekend to his gut instinct, having seen similarities to when Virgil van Dijk made his club bow two years ago.

The 24-year-old Japan international completed his move from Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday in a £7.25m deal, with the forward immediately joining his new teammates in training at the club’s Melwood base.

Klopp has already been impressed with what he has seen from Minamino already, with the Liverpool manager describing him as arriving in England “in great shape” after completing his first full day of training on Thursday despite the winter break back in Austria meaning he has not played a game since facing Liverpool in the Champions League on 10 December.

It echoes the arrival of Van Dijk in January 2017, when the centre-back joined from Southampton after a period of no football to make his debut against their fierce Merseyside rivals Everton and score the match-winner.

“I think it’s pretty much the same situation, I’m not 100 per cent sure,” Klopp said when asked about the prospect of handing Minamino an immediate debut.

“Virg (Van Dijk) was injured before, he didn’t play for a while for Southampton. So, when he came in, I remember the morning session, I decided in the morning because it was not the actual plan; then, in the morning I just thought, ‘Why not? Come on, let’s give it a try.’ It was obviously a good decision that time.

“Takumi is here and had three sessions with the team now, that’s not so much. But it’s football still.

“He had kind of time off when Salzburg went into the winter break, he had time off and we were not allowed to bring him here to train with us in that time. He was back in Japan, which was nice as well. He came here in a good shape. So, let’s see.”

Regardless of whether Klopp selects his latest acquisition or not, he is almost certain to make changes to his side due to Liverpool’s heavy fixture list this season – largely due to their participation in the Club World Cup.

Liverpool find themselves without a number of squad players available for Sunday’s visit of Everton to Anfield, with Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Xherdan Shaqiri among those absent. In total, Klopp has just 12 outfield players left to choose from – plus Minamino – which has led to suggestions that he will rotate his side with many of the youth academy who featured in their Carabao Cup defeat by Aston Villa last month, but Klopp remained unmoved on questions about his selection strategy.

"People have told me already I wouldn't respect the cup. It's not true. But my first job is to respect the players," he said. "I've got to decide if it's allowed to play them again. It looks like federations around want to make it more tricky.

"How can you look at a situation like Newcastle - losing four players in one game - and not think 'This is crazy'."