Record Burnley signing Steven Defour could make Turf Moor debut against Liverpool

Sean Dyche has confirmed that new Burnley recruit Steven Defour could make an immediate Premier League debut against Liverpool at Turf Moor this weekend. After no shortage of transfer speculation, the Belgium international finally put pen to paper on a three-year deal with the newly-promoted Clarets this week for a £7m (€8.1m) fee that saw him replace prolific striker Andre Gray as the club's record signing.

Defour became Burnley's fourth arrival of the summer and followed former Charlton Athletic duo Nick Pope and Johann Berg Gudmundsson to Lancashire. Versatile Liverpool full-back Jon Flanagan also arrived on a season-long loan deal in August.

"Possibly," manager Dyche was quoted as saying at a pre-match press conference when asked if the former Genk, Standard Liege, Porto and Anderlecht midfielder could feature straight away.

"It's one of things we'll look at accordingly and he's certainly a player we've been on for a while to bring him in. He's got quality there's no two ways about that but the adaptation to the Premier League is what we're looking for because it is different.

"I've shown about that in some depth with him but his game understanding having played international football and Champions League football is pretty clear. It's how he adapts to our group and how we want to go into the Premier League and do well. He knows it'll be a challenge for us. He's not coming here thinking we'll be rolling around the top three all season and he wants to be a part of that."

Championship winners and inevitable relegation candidates Burnley bounced back to the Premier League at the first time of asking last term, but their latest top-flight return began with a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Swansea City. Dutch midfielder Leroy Fer scored the only goal of the game eight minutes from time after Tom Heaton had parried a Fernando Llorente header directly into his path.

Striker Ashley Barnes remains absent for the visit of Liverpool as he continues to recover from a hamstring problem, while Flanagan is not eligible to play against his parent club. A lack of match fitness may have prevented him from making his first appearance anyway.

"Ashley Barnes is the one who won't be available," Dyche added. "He's going along nicely after a hamstring injury but he won't be fit for the weekend. Jon Flanagan can't play because of his loan agreement and we're getting him up to speed. He didn't go on tour with Liverpool and he played three [sets of] 45 minutes so he needs more pitch time."