Mesut Ozil is reportedly ‘90%’ likely to join Fenerbahce in January if media reports are to be believed, but I wouldn’t get too ahead of yourself just yet.

On Monday, it was reported that Mesut Ozil was ‘90%’ likely to join Fenerbahce.

The story was first picked up by Sport Witness who came across it on Sport Digitale where Fener’s congress member, Murat Zorlu, said “A source, who’s very well connected to the club has told me that Mesut Ozil is likely to become a Fenerbahce player during the next transfer window. I would say 90% he will join us in one month.”

Ozil has never hidden his love for Fenerbahce nor his desire to play there one day. It seems highly unlikely, however, that that day will be at the start of 2021 for a number of reasons.

Firstly, there are Ozil’s wages.

Even if he was to take a substantial paycut, he still would be far too expensive for the Turkish side at present. Their highest earner is on under €90kpw and one of the consistents over the 12 years of running this site has been Turkish sides wanting players they can’t afford. They could not, for instance, afford David Opsina.

Next, you have the small matter of Mesut Ozil himself.

Both the player and his agent have been adamant that he will remain in London until the end of his contract. That will allow him to leave for free, although he can sign a pre-contract agreement with another side from January.

The story doing the rounds in the press about Ozil before this one was full of talk about Ozil believing he would sign for a ‘top club’ once his Arsenal deal expired. With no disrespect to Fener, at 32, Ozil would still be an attractive option for many sides higher up the footballing pecking order.

Then, there’s the matter of Ozil’s loyalty bonus that will be paid out should he see out his the full five years of his contract.

I’ve been plenty wrong in the past but I would be very surprised indeed if Ozil went anywhere in January, let alone Fenerbahce.