Arsenal are ready to hijack North London rivals Tottenham’s move for Dusan Vlahovic.

Gunners officials met with Fiorentina counterparts earlier this week to discuss a deal for the Serbian.

And that is a blow for Spurs who have been heavily linked with Vlahovic over the past six months.

The striker, 21, has established himself as one of Europe’s best young marksmen with 31 goals in 52 games since the start of last season.

His contract in Florence runs out at the end of the current campaign and he will not sign a new deal at the Serie A outfit.

Now Arsenal have put themselves at the front of the queue in the battle for his signature, according to The Express.

But they will face plenty of competition with a whole host of European giants linked with Vlahovic.

Mikel Arteta will want to bolster his striking options with Alexandre Lacazette out of contract next summer and not expected to sign a new deal.

Skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has scored seven times this campaign but at 32 is not getting any younger, while Gabriel Martinelli has not kicked on in the past 12 months.

Vlahovic would be the perfect addition to Arteta’s squad — and if they can capture him, they would be delivering a blow to their nearest rivals at the same time.

Conte eyes old friend

New Spurs boss Antonio Conte wants to raid former club Inter Milan for midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

The Croatian midfielder was one of Conte’s main men as Inter won the Serie A title in the 2020-21 campaign.

He is in the last year of his contact at the San Siro with reports suggesting his wage demands are out of the Nerazzurri’s reach.

TuttoMercatoWeb say that Paris Saint-Germain are keen on the 28-year-old but that they face stiff competition from Spurs.

And the prospect of linking up with the coach who got the best out of him may tempt Brozovic to the Premier League.

It is not yet clear whether Inter would look to cash in on their midfielder in January or let him leave for free when his contract ends.

Spurs may hope it is the latter with suggestions in the Italian press after Conte’s appointment that Inter would be reluctant to sell any players to his new club.

In other news

Spanish outlet El Nacional say that Newcastle have made Barcelona and Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen one of their main targets in the transfer market.

Real Madrid want to sign Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger when his contract runs out next summer and would offer him wages of £200,000 per week, according to AS.

Xavi was only appointed as Barcelona boss in the early hours of Saturday morning but he wants Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman to be his first signing, report Sport.