Juventus has stepped up their chase of Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain, according to reports in Italy, in the hopes of stealing the march on Arsenal.

Higuain has long been on Arsenal's wishlist for the summer, as Arsene Wenger looks to make some serious improvements to his squad following another trophyless season.

Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud more than made up for Robin van Persie's absence in the side after the striker left last summer for eventual title winners Manchester United, but none have been able to compete with the Premier League's best for scoring honours in this campaign.

Gonzalo Higuain is reportedly negotiating a possible move to Juventus.

With that in mind, Wenger is believed to be looking at the possibility of bringing Higuain to the Emirates, as the Argentina international looks for more game time.

After scoring 16 goals for Madrid this season, the Spanish giants are believed to be open to discussing a move for the 25 year old. Tuttosport claims that Juventus have chosen to move quickly on the conclusion of the season to begin talks over the sale of Higuain, to avoid entering a bidding war with Arsenal.

The Old Lady struggled last summer to land a striker, and when they did so it was Nicklas Bendtner, whom the club admitted was not their top target.

The on-loan Arsenal striker made only 10 appearances for the club, failing to score in his time in Serie A, and though the side have won the Italian title, their huge loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter final - 4-0 on aggregate - has shown the club they will need to bolster to become a force in Europe again.

Arsenal certainly pose a threat to Juventus' talks with Madrid over Higuain now that they can offer Champions League football to the star, and the Italian side are reportedly hoping to lower the €30 million fee for his signature during the talks.

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