Reports: Arsenal favourites to complete surprise move for Manchester United star

What's the story?

Arsenal have emerged as surprise favourites to sign Manchester United's second choice keeper Sergio Romero. With David De Gea in sublime form for Manchester United, Romero has found opportunities hard to come by. Also, with the World Cup coming up, the Argentinian shot-stopper is keen on earning some regular playing time with Arsenal favourites ahead of Villarreal and Sampdoria to complete his signature.

Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "With David de Gea on the scene, Romero is never going to break into Mourinho's first-team plans - and it now looks likely that Wenger will take advantage of the Argentine's availability."

Arsenal are at 9/4 to sign Romero while Sampdoria and Villarreal are at 16/5 and 5/1 respectively.

In case you didn't know...

Sergio Romero made the move to Manchester United in 2015

Ever since having made the move to Manchester United in 2015, Romero has struggled to get regular playing time having made only 32 appearances so far for the Red Devils. With Arsenal looking to let go of David Ospina and Petr Cech on the wrong side of 30, Romero could be a viable and cost-effective option to take over as Arsenal's custodian.

Still only 30, Romero is an excellent goalkeeper by his own right and could bring some much-needed solidity and calmness to the Arsenal backline.

The heart of the matter

Romero has been restricted to appearances in the League Cup for Manchester United this season and while there is no denying that De Gea is a better goalkeeper than him, Romero is too good of a shot-stopper to be the second choice for this long.

However, a move to Arsenal will make sense in January only if he is ensured of regular playing time and it will be interesting to see how Wenger uses him if the move does come to fruition in the January transfer window.

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Author's take

With the World Cup coming up, Romero definitely needs to leave in January to get regular playing time. However, Petr Cech is Arsenal's 'number 1' right now and the 30-year-old shot-stopper should only make the move to United's Premier League rivals if he is ensured of regular playing time.