The cost of removing Mesut Ozil from Arsenal’s wage bill in January has been laid bare, and it won’t make pretty reading for the Gunners.
According to a Twitter post from Turkish journalist, Yagiz Sabuncuoglu, the sports correspondent at TRT, cited by The Sun, talks between player and club are already underway.
Should the north Londoners want the player off of their books now, they will need to pay him an incredible £7.2m to pay up the remainder of his contract.
Clearly, the club would want to avoid such an outlay if they can help it, however, the alternative for them is even worse.
Should he so desire, and he would be well within his rights to do so, Ozil could refuse to move in January and sit on the sidelines until the end of the season, collecting his money each week for doing nothing.
Moreover, he would also be due a hefty loyalty bonus in June, which would surely be the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as the club are concerned.
The Sun cite reports in Turkey which suggest that Fenerbahce have agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Ozil worth £90,000 a week.
Arsenal’s best case scenario at this stage is being able to negotiate his contract down to a more acceptable pay-off to enable him to leave.