Liverpool wants to thrash out a pre-contract deal with Keisuke Honda over a summer switch to Anfield.
The versatile CSKA Moscow attacker is out-of-contract at the end of the season, and Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is allowed to approach the player now over a summer transfer.
Honda, who has 41 caps for Japan and is considered one of their best ever European exports, had been in talks with CSKA over an extension to his current deal, but with less than four months left to run, the club have confirmed he has ended negotiations and wants to move on.
‘We tried to extend his contract, but we can’t force him,’ confessed director Roman Babaev.
‘It is up to him what happens next.’
Reports in Russia suggest that the news has opened the door for Liverpool, who have been watching the situation carefully, and now believe they have a clear run for the player.
It’s thought Liverpool will sound out Honda for talks in the next few weeks, with the club keen to gauge his interest in a move to England, and if a deal can be brokered.
Honda does not fit with Rodgers’ mantra of buying young, English talent, but given that the 26-year-old would be a free agent in the summer, he represents a bargain that is difficult to turn down.
Fast, technical and able to play in any forward position, Honda has nine goals in 22 matches for CSKA this season – his best tally since his move from VVV Venlo in 2010.
Arsenal and Tottenham were both previously interested in the player.
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