Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 7y

'Better than 50-50 chance' Sounders acquire Keisuke Honda - source

The Seattle Sounders are moving forward in their pursuit of Japan international and AC Milan midfielder Keisuke Honda, multiple league sources have confirmed to ESPN FC.

Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that a deal had been finalized, but one league source was more circumspect, stating that while the deal wasn't done, there was a "better than 50-50 chance" that Seattle will acquire Honda. The source stated that Honda's contract would be for two years and his salary would be in the $1 million to $1.5 million range. The source added that Honda's signature wouldn't require a transfer fee.

If the deal is completed, Honda would take up the Sounders' third Designated Player spot. The other two are currently occupied by Clint Dempsey and Nicolas Lodeiro. With Dempsey now returning to health after missing the latter part of the 2016 campaign due to an irregular heartbeat, it seems likely that Honda would occupy a spot either on the right side of midfield or centrally.

Honda, 30, has fallen out of favor at Milan, making just five appearances this season with the Rossoneri. His best campaign with the Italian club came in 2014-15 when he scored six goals in 29 league matches.

Honda has previously played with Japanese side Nagoya Grampus, VVV Venlo in the Netherlands, as well as Russian Premier League side CSKA Moscow.

Honda has made 86 appearances with Japan's national team, scoring 36 goals.

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