Juventus are in talks with CSKA Moscow to acquire Japan’s World Cup hero Keisuke Honda as the Italian giants attempt to revamp their squad, a press report said yesterday.

The two clubs have been holding talks “including financial matters” over the 25-year-old midfielder, the Sports Nippon daily said, quoting inside sources.

Juventus, who finished a disappointing seventh in the 2010-11 Serie A season, are hoping to use Honda as a “centre-piece player” in the new campaign, the daily said.

Honda emerged as Japan’s key player at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he scored two goals and set up another as the Blue Samurai reached the last 16 for their best ever result on foreign soil.

He was also named the most valuable player at the Asian Cup in Doha in January, when Japan lifted a record fourth continental title.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa were reported to have shown their interest in Honda during the Asian Cup.

After four years at J-League powerhouse Nagoya Grampus and two years at Dutch club Venlo, Honda joined CSKA in January 2010 and became the first Japanese to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League the same year.

Meanwhile, Stephan Licht-steiner has admitted that working under manager Antonio Conte is key to his decision to move to Juventus after the Switzerland international agreed to join the Turin club from Lazio on Tuesday for a reported fee of around ten million euros.

“Conte has convinced me,” Lichtsteiner said.

“I wanted to play for Juventus but it was the telephone call from Conte that proved crucial for me to accept. We see football in the same way.”