AC swoop for Honda’s signature

JAPAN forward Keisuke Honda, pictured, has signed a 3½-year contract with AC Milan and will join the club before the end of the year.

Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani divulged more details of the deal yesterday, after first announcing the transfer on Wednesday.

Galliani says “now it’s sure that he’s coming. For a while I was lying. Honda will be in Milan on December 30. He signed a 3½-year contract, through 2017. We only have his sporting rights, not his image rights.”

Honda arrives on a free transfer from CSKA Moscow and will wear No 10.

Galliani says: “He could play on January 12 (at Sassuolo). We’ll deposit his contract on January 3 then wait for the bureaucratic matters to be sorted.” – Sapa-AP