South Korea striker Cho Gue-sung will choose a move to Mainz over Celtic in the January transfer window.
The 24-year-old scored twice for his national team in Qatar at the World Cup, both coming in a three-minute spell against Ghana, and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have allowed him to pursue a £2.5million move to Europe.
Mainz are now expected to win the race for the striker who they made their number one target, beating Celtic and other clubs in the United States.
The Bundesliga side have previously signed a host of players from South Korea and have Cho's national team colleague Jae-sung Lee currently playing for them.
Former Manchester United winger Park Ji-Sung is negotiating the deal for Jeonbuk from London as their technical director.
Cho wants to complete the move as soon as possible to join Mainz before they restart their season on January 21, with German football having a prolonged break after the World Cup.
