Barcola, 23, has long been on Arsenal's radar alongside Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers. Villa are reluctant to sell and would demand a fee at British record levels, making Barcola an equally attractive but similarly expensive option for Berta's side.
PSG are not planning to sell. They have already created financial room this summer by moving Gonçalo Ramos to AC Milan, agreeing Randal Kolo Muani's departure to Juventus, and potentially selling Kang-in Lee to Atlético Madrid — resources they intend to use to sign Yan Diomandé from RB Leipzig and Maghnes Akliouche from Monaco without being forced into a Barcola sale.
Barcola has not committed to a new deal, however, and knows Liverpool are also firmly interested. He has not decided his future.
Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta's approach is to run parallel negotiations until deals fall into place. The club have bid for Newcastle's Bruno Guimarães, made enquiries for Bournemouth's Alex Scott, been offered Club Brugge winger Christos Tzolis, and held talks over Bayer Leverkusen's Kerim Alajbegović. They are targeting around four signings of high quality this summer.
PSG would require a fee comparable to what they would demand if Barcola forced a move — a figure in line with the top of the current market for wide players of his age and profile.
Arsenal believe Barcola would be open to the move, but acknowledge they will face competition.
Barcola came through the Lyon academy and PSG signed him from their city rivals in 2023 for around €45m. He has since become a key part of Luis Enrique's squad, contributing to back-to-back Champions League and Ligue 1 title wins, and earned his place in Didier Deschamps' France squad for the World Cup after a productive club season.
His performance against Sweden — scoring France's second goal and linking well throughout — will have done nothing to lower Arsenal's estimation of a player they see as capable of operating at the very highest level.