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According to reports, Liverpool want to sign a pre-contract deal with Japanese Keisuke Honda over a switch to Anfield in the summer.
The versatile CSKA Moscow forward will be out of contract at the end of the season, and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is believed to have approached the player now.
Honda, who has played 41 matches for Japan and is highly touted as their best-ever Asian export, had been in talks with CSKA over an extension of the contract, but with less than four months left to run on the contract, the club have confirmed he has ended negotiations from his side and wants to leave.
Roman Babaev, the club director, said: “We tried to extend his contract, but we can’t force him.
“It is up to him what happens next.”
It is believed that Liverpool will sound out Honda for talks in the next few weeks and see if a deal can be brokered.
Though Honda does not fit with Rodgers’ idea of buying young, English talent, the 26-year-old would be a free agent in the summer, and it is too tempting an offer to turn down.
Honda has nine goals in 22 matches for CSKA this season – his best tally since his moved to Russia from Japan in 2010. Moreover, he is a versatile player and can play in any forward position.
Even Arsenal and Tottenham were interested in the Japanese international previously.
Source: Metro
