Transfer Update: Bernard, Cesc and Suarez

Suarez is said to want a move to North London

I thought tonight I would post a transfer update for you all, so we can recap on what has occurred and look towards the hopefully bright future.

In terms of what has happened so far, well there is very little to report in terms of official signings. At the moment our solitary signing remains Yaya Sanogo. The young French striker has arrived on a free transfer from Auxerre, meaning at this point in time we have yet to open Wenger's transfer war chest.

Deals have been close though, very close.

Higuain is a prime example. Everything had been agreed with the player and Arsenal were merely looking to rubber stamp £24 million move with Real Madrid. However this suddenly all changed. Madrid moved the goalposts and demanded that we pay £31 million for Higuain, the fee Napoli eventually secured his services for. Consequently we pulled out of the deal and made Luis Suarez our number target.

The saga that is running over the Uruguayan appears to be one which may last a while. The Gunners have had two bids rejected.The second bid, which was over £40 million, has activated a clause in Luis' contract - allowing him to speak personal terms with us while we agree a fee with Liverpool. Rodgers and co are insistent that Suarez is not for sale, however they did also state that "every player has his price"...

A key factor in this saga may well be the role of the diminutive Brazilian Bernard, a supposed target of both Arsenal and Liverpool. If Liverpool were to sell Suarez it may well be that Bernard becomes their number one target, for the simple reason that they already have a replacement in Sturridge and a back up forward in Iago Aspas. Therefore they may target another playmaker, to help feed the poacher like play of Daniel Sturridge. Perhaps Liverpool would be more inclined to sell Suarez if we agreed to back off Bernard and allow them to sign a placement for the want-away Uruguayan.

Note that this is just my theory, but it seems a possible outcome.

Finally a word on Cesc. Is he coming back? Well after towards comments from the Catalan club it would appear no. As the new Barca boss has categorically stated he is not for sale.

However in the last few hours Sky Sports News have reported some intriguing developments. It turns out their is £35 million release clause in Cesc's contract, something previously unknown to us.

The one club who are allowed to activate it? Arsenal.

Watch this space.

Come on you Gooners,

Many thanks