PREVIEW-Soccer-Italy join the chase for Palermo's Dybala

MILAN, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Italy coach Antonio Conte has joined the chase for Palermo's 20-year-old forward Paulo Dybala whose eye-catching performances have lit up a Serie A this season. The Argentine forward has become a talking point in the last two months and scored with an exquisite curled shot in the 1-1 draw against Genoa on Monday, taking his Serie A tally this season to five. Palermo's fiery president Maurizio Zamparani likened Dybala to fellow Argentine Sergio Aguero when he arrived at the Sicilian club two years ago from second division Argentine club Instituto. Not one to adopt a low-key approach, Zamparini has slapped a 40 million euro (49.93 million US dollar) price tag on Dybala and is now predicting that he will be better than "Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic." "At the moment, he's the best centre forward in Italy and within two years he will be the best in the world and I'm very happy to have him here." Although Zamparini usually catches the headlines for his tempestuous behaviour, his club clearly have an knack for hoovering up young South American talent and allowing them to use the club as a springboard to greener pastures. Uruguayans Edinson Cavani (now at Paris St Germain) and Abel Hernandez (Hull City) and Argentine Javier Pastore (Paris St Germain) all spent time at Palermo before moving on. Dybala showed some flashes of his potential in his first season at Palermo but was forced from the limelight after they were relegated and spent last season in Serie B. This season, he is clearly intent on making up for lost time. Italian media reported on Wednesday that Conte hoped to persuade Dybala to play for Italy, which he is qualified to do through his grandmother. Zamparani, however, suggested that Dybala's rightful place was with the country of his birth. "I don't think it's fair that Dybala can wear the shirt of our national team," he said. "I think it would be more appropriate if he was picked by Argentina. Italy seems to be an unnatural choice but only the lad will decide." Palermo, seen as relegation fodder at the start of the season, have made a reasonable start, with three wins and five draws in their opening 14 games leaving them 13th in the table. They host table proppers Parma on Sunday. Leaders Juventus, who won every home game last season and their first five this term, host local rivals Torino on Sunday (1700) while second-placed AS Roma are at home to Inter Milan, who drew 1-1 with AC Milan on Roberto Mancini's return as coach. (1 US dollar = 0.8012 euro) (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; editing by Justin Palmer)