Today’s big news in the transfer market is that Liverpool have agreed a £16 million fee with AC Milan for Mario Balotelli. The striker was linked with a few clubs, Arsenal included, and now it looks like his return to the Premier League will be in a Liverpool shirt.

Many have already commented saying it’s a panic buy and too much of a risk, but I for one think he is excellent value at £16 million.

Of course, he comes with his own problems but in some ways I think he is misunderstood and the fact of the matter is he is one of the few players out there (and available) who has that world class talent. Despite his moods, tantrums and inability to put on a bib, you cannot deny the lad has supreme talent on the football pitch (when he wants to).

With the right manager, and the right team, Mario Balotelli can be a force to be reckoned with.

So have Arsenal missed a trick with this one?

£16 million is not much in todays transfer market for a player so talented. We need another striker (or two) and for that price would Balotelli be that much of a risk?

It would be ignorant to assume he’s going to lose the plot like he did at Manchester City, and don’t forget he’s still young – and maturing all the time.

For me, we’ve missed out big time on this one and for £16 million it wouldn’t have been that much of a gamble at all.

Mark my words, come next May people will be praising Brendan Rodgers for his cunning in the transfer market.

With many of the mainstream media outlets believing that Thomas Vermaelen was destined for a move to Manchester United to rejoin our previous captain Robin van Persie, we knew that Thomas would snub Old Trafford in favour for a move to the Camp Nou.

Called this well before official outlets #Vermaelen snubs #United and will join #Barcelona! #Arsenal pic.twitter.com/logLtDSmmv

— Mike (@afc4life_uk) August 8, 2014

The main reasons for this decision were because of the style of football Barcelona play, which is not unlike Arsenal’s, and the exciting new project Luis Enrique is building at the Camp Nou. Also chatting with Cesc helped finalise his decision.

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I’ve been saying all along that Alexis Sanchez wasn’t going to arrive at The Emirates, and tonight I have been completely surprised.

Arsenal have finally confirmed that they have secured the signature of Sanchez, who featured in this summers World Cup and scored against the hosts in Brazil but went out on penalties.

As usual, Arsenal have publicly said the fee is undisclosed but reports are saying the fee is around the £35 million mark. This should pave the way for Luis Suarez to move to the Camp Nou, which is good news for Liverpool’s rivals. Say what you want about Suarez, but he is a world class player who would make any team better – and Liverpool will miss him dearly.

Maybe I’ve just had too many long and depressing summers with Arsenal to believe that a player like Alexis Sanchez would join us. I firmly believed that the Mesut Özil signing last summer was a flash in the pan – partly a last minute buy because of the late sale of Gareth Bale to the European Champions. Did I think Özil’s signing was a well-planned signing? Not in a million years.

But the Sanchez deal seems like a signing which has planned well and executed with minimum fuss – which after the Higuain saga last summer is a pleasant surprise.

What does Sanchez joining Arsenal mean?

Well it means we have someone other than Olivier Giroud to lead the line. Sanchez has scored 39 goals in 88 appearances for Barcelona which is a decent return when you consider for a number of those games he was a substitute. At Arsenal, you would assume that he will be one of the first names on the team sheet.

Even though he’s coming to Arsenal, I am still a bit surprised at his arrival. I would have put Sanchez down as an Arsene Wenger signing.

I’ll admit that I don’t know a huge amount about him, if I’m honest. The first time I really noticed him on the big stage was when he scored 4 goals in a 7-0 win against Palermo for Udinese. And I remember his chip for Barcelona against Real Madrid. For Chile in the World Cup I thought he played okay, but nothing spectacular. Obviously I hope he makes me look stupid (which isn’t hard) and hits the ground running next season.

He’s only 25 which is a fantastic age for a player like him. He’s played for Udinese and Barcelona, so he clearly has experience at the top top level.

He has a lot of pace and when you consider an Arsenal that has Mesut Özil feeding Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez, then that is mouth-watering.

Hopefully this signing is just the beginning of an exciting summer for Arsenal fans.

I will try and be more positive from now on!