Arsenal are favourites to sign Mario Gotze ahead of a number of their Premier League rivals, according to today’s reports.

On Thursday, we brought you the news that Sky sources listed Arsenal as one of a number of teams considering a move for the Dortmund playmaker this summer. The report suggested the Bundesliga club want to recoup the ‘vast majority’ of the £22m fee they paid to bring the player back after his Bayern Munich move.

Now, further reports from England suggest Gotze would cost around £18m this summer, and the Sunderland Echo name Arsenal as ‘favourites’ for the signing. They’re not exactly the most reliable source for Arsenal news, of course, but they’re reporting on the story because Newcastle are another club heavily linked to interest in the player.

The other clubs who have reportedly made enquiries, according to the Daily Star, are West Ham, Everton and Leicester.

Unfortunately, that just serves to highlight how much Gotze’s stock has plummeted in recent years. It wasn’t long ago that he was getting a move to Bayern and scoring the winner in a World Cup final. Since then, things haven’t gone half as well for him, especially in terms of his fitness.

Perhaps all he needs is a fresh start, but it’d still be a fairly big money signing for a position that isn’t crucial for Arsenal to spend on. A goalkeeper, a second centre-back and a natural winger should all be higher priority signings for now.