Recent reports suggest that Arsenal have contacted the agent of Paulo Dybala. They have been busy planning for the upcoming season. Earlier, it was reported that the North London club is looking to sign the Juventus forward on a free transfer. It doesn’t look like an easy operation now as they will face competition from Newcastle United.

The Argentine’s contract with the Italian giants is up this summer and it has been confirmed that they would not extend it. Due to this, several clubs are keeping tabs on the forward, including Arsenal, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Atletico Madrid and even Tottenham. Newcastle have also joined this list and according to Italian publications, they have leapfrogged the Gunners in his pursuit.

Juventus signed Paulo Dybala for €40million (around £23.4million) from Palermo in 2015. In his seven seasons with the club, the Argentine has 113 goals and 48 assists in 285 games (stats via Transfermarkt). However, with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018, he was forced out of position and he is being further played in the wide position with the arrival of former Arsenal target Dusan Vlahovic in January.

This season, Dybala has scored eight goals and five assists in 23 Serie A matches (stats via whoscored). He is a five-time Serie A champion with the Old Lady and has also won four Copa Italia and three Italian Super Cups. He also has 32 caps with Argentina but did not feature in the 2021 Copa America winning squad.

According to Corriere Dello Sport (via The Sun), Newcastle will not hesitate to use their financial power to lure Dybala to St. James’ Park. The Magpies will be having their first summer window since their £300million takeover by the Saudi consortium. They want to start with a bang by signing the Argentine as one of the marquee players, with the aim of winning trophies and European football. With no hassle of transfer fees, they can easily offer a lucrative wage to the 28-year-old forward.

The Gunners, however, do not want to leave anything to fate, as was the case during the winter transfer window. Arsenal genuinely want to bring Paulo Dybala to the Emirates. According to Italian publication Calciomercato (via The Boot Room), the North London club have ‘initiated contact’ with the player’s camp. The club are hoping to convince the former Palermo forward to come and join Mikel Arteta’s team.

In March, journalist Rory Smith stated that Arsenal were the most likely destination for Paulo Dybala among the Premier League clubs. The Argentine is reportedly keen to play in a new country and has no qualms about playing in England. He wants to join a team where he will play centrally and a team in the Champions League.

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Thus, this could work in favour of either of the two North London clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham. However, few teams can match Newcastle financially right now. Howe would love to have a player with such an accomplished CV at his disposal, who could help the club in their push for glory in future.

Arsenal plan to go all-in for an established forward next season. Arteta currently has just two senior strikers with him – Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, both going out of contract in June, and will have just Balogun in the sqaud for the next season. They seem to have zeroed in on Dybala and have no wish to give up on him for the now financially strong Newcastle. The Magpies know that they will face fierce competition from both Arsenal and Spurs, who were very close to signing the 28-year-old player back in 2019.

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