With the future of Iker Casillas at Real Madrid looking increasingly dark, Arsenal are planning an audacious swoop in the summer for the Spain skipper.

Casillas has been sparingly used this season by Jose Mourinho, with the Real captain dropped a couple of times as well.

An injury to his thumb, right after he had fought his way back into the starting lineup, led to Real bringing in Diego Lopez in the January transfer window, and the new signing has shown tremendous form, leading to Mourinho saying he considers Lopez as his first choice keeper.

Casillas returned to training little over a week ago, but was not included in the squad for Real's Champions League first leg against Galatasaray. The Spanish international was part of the squad in the 5-1 win over Levante at the weekend, but was an unused substitute.

It is a well known fact in Spain that Mourinho and Casillas don't see eye to eye, which has led to speculation that the latter could leave at the end of the season.

However, if Mourinho does stay, the likelihood of Casillas having to leave Real would increase. Arsenal are looking to bring in an experienced goalkeeper in the summer, to help groom Wojciech Szczesny.

Real will reportedly demand £17 million ($26 million) for the 31-year-old, according to the Daily Star, a fee which would break Arsenal's transfer record.

Casillas is Real through and through, and the chances of him wanting to leave the club he has been with his entire senior career is pretty slim. The Spain international has won pretty much everything there is to win in the game, both for his club and for his country, so Arsenal will be hoping, like Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes, Casillas will also be open for a new challenge.

The experienced Spaniard has not been at his best this season, so maybe a move away from his comfort zone will bring the best out of him. However, Arsenal's ability to attract a player of Casillas' stature can be questioned, with the club fighting for just a top-four place, which is again far from assured.

Arsenal need to be in the Champions League next season if they are to tempt such big names as Casillas, while wages might also be a stumbling block; although there have been suggestions Arsenal's austerity measures might be coming to an end come next season.