Manchester United took their summer signings to a total of five this week with the capture of free agent and Argentine number one goalkeeper Sergio Romero.
Something of an international veteran having won 62 senior caps for his country to date, Romero is vastly experienced but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be a replacement for David De Gea or Victor Valdes this summer.
Louis van Gaal has openly admitted on the Red Devils’ tour of the United States that he doesn’t know whether De Gea will be at the club past September and has therefore swooped for Romero if the worst case scenario plays out and they lose their Spanish international.
Real Madrid are of course the club who have a heavy interest in De Gea but after they signed Kiko Casilla this summer and made Keylor Navas their new number one, Manchester United fans thought they were off the hook.
Only time will tell whether United will retain De Gea past September and in reality, they are hoping Romero is a second choice and replacement for Victor Valdes who breached club discipline for opting not to play in a reserves fixture recently.
But what do you know about Manchester United’s new boy Romero? We take a look at five interesting facts.
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Click on the image below to reveal the 5 things you may not know about Manchester United’s Sergio Romero.
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At 6 ft 3 in, he’s considered tiny in his family
We all know that most successful goalkeepers are 6 ft plus and Romero is exactly that at 6 ft 3 in but it’s rather interesting that despite his frame, he is considered tiny when it comes to his family relatives.
Nicknamed ‘Chiquito’ meaning tiny of course, Romero is a titcher when it comes to his brothers who play basketball and you can understand why when one of his brothers – Diego – scales 6 ft 10 in.
For Manchester United fans, they may have thought David De Gea was that size last term with his point saving abilities that were relied upon week after week with the stopper helping the Red Devils into fourth place.
They couldn’t have done it without the Spaniard.
He boasts an Olympic gold medal in his locker
Olympic football is hardly considered the pinnacle of competition in the sport but when you’ve won the thing, we’d imagine it’s pretty good at the end of your career to look back on your medal as something unique that many other of your former team-mates perhaps don’t possess.
Sergio Romero won a gold medal with Argentina back at the Beijing games of 2008 with Romero lining up in a 22-man squad that also included Juan Roman Riquelme, Angel Di Maria and of course Lionel Messi.
Starting the gold medal match against Nigeria in which La Albiceleste prevailed 1-0 courtesy of an Angel Di Maria strike, Romero’s other achievements in his career are winning the Eredivisie title with AZ Alkmaar in 2008/9 and the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in 2007.
He’s already worked with Louis van Gaal in his career
Sergio Romero has been brought into Old Trafford this summer as someone Louis van Gaal knows well and trusts from their time spent together at AZ Alkmaar.
Signed by van Gaal from Racing Club of Romero’s Argentine homeland back in 2007, the goalkeeper got his big break in September of that year after first choice Boy Waterman succumbed to injury.
Going on to make 72 appearances for AZ despite van Gaal departing in 2009, Romero was receiving regular playing time in Europe and as a result managed to become the established number one for Argentina in the process.
He is married to an Argentine model
Sergio Romero is married to Argentine model and actress Eliana Guercio who at 37-years-old is nine years the goalkeeper’s elder.
With the pair hooking up back in 2008, the couple now have two children.
United fans can look forward to Guercio attending games at Old Trafford with the model having shot to prominence herself for appearing in a fully nude scene as part of the “Más que diferente” programme back in Argentina.
He was number two behind a former Arsenal misfit last term
Despite being relied upon for his country and now playing for a club the size of Manchester United to boot, it may be difficult to understand that Sergio Romero was the number two option behind a former Arsenal misfit last season.
Having since been released by Sampdoria of Serie A of course, Romero had to put up with a spot on the bench behind Emiliano Viviano who was a loan signing of Arsene Wenger for the 2013/14 campaign.
Playing exactly zero minutes of competitive action for the Gunners in his temporary spell at Emirates Stadium, blink and you would’ve missed Viviano’s time in North London.
He must’ve improved a great deal to have got ahead of Romero last season in the Italian top flight.
