Liverpool may have to drop two players to register Cody Gakpo in the Champions League

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is facing a selection dilemma for his Champions League squad and may have to omit players for Cody Gakpo to feature.

The Netherlands international joined Liverpool this month after an impressive first half of the season with PSV Eindhoven.

Long-term injuries to Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz mean Gakpo, who has scored 13 goals and provided 14 assists in all competitions this season, will get opportunities from the off at Anfield.

Klopp will have to make a tricky decision regarding his 25-man squad for the remainder of the competition when it resumes next month.

Liverpool went for a 24-man squad for their group stage campaign as they didn't have enough homegrown players to be eligible.

It means for Gakpo to be included, a player from the group stage squad will need to be removed. That doesn't mean Liverpool were at full strength in Group A.

Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain missed out due to injury but are now fit enough to be involved, both featuring over the festive period. Oxlade-Chamberlain being English doesn't help matters much, either.

Half of Liverpool's eight homegrown players need to count as 'club-trained', which the 29-year-old isn't after signing from Arsenal in 2018. Only three of their seven in the group stages were homegrown, complicating further inclusions.

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A way to get an extra player in will be to register Stefan Bajcetic as a 'List B' player. The 18-year-old joined Liverpool from Celta Vigo in 2020, officially passing the two-year mark last month and filling the requirement of being below 21.

Klopp will still have to omit two players if he'd like to get Gakpo, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Keita in. Not the easiest job in the world.

Potential omissions are goalkeeper Adrian and loanee Arthur Melo, who is currently out of action with a thigh issue.

Liverpool supporters are desperate for the club to invest in a midfielder this month, although their business looks done after the arrival of Gakpo.

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They've been linked with a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Matheus Nunes, although a move would have to wait for the summer.

Nunes played two games for Sporting CP before moving to Wolves in August, with FIFA regulations preventing a player from representing more than two clubs per season.

Liverpool are currently sixth in the Premier League table after a 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Monday evening. They return to action against Wolves in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.