We all know what’s been happening with Luis Suarez, and we are now at the end game. Arsene Wenger has two choices, and which one will be pick?

We started this whole saga by submitting a bid of £30 million to Liverpool which was immediately rejected. After some consideration (and some kind of belief that there was a release clause in the contract) we bid what will probably the most famous amount in British football, a price of £40 million and £1.

What followed was a lot of talk from Liverpool. First they mentioned the “lack of class” we supposedly had and their owner, John W Henry famously asked what Arsenal were smoking over there at the Emirates. And Brendan Rogers talked a lot, mentioning how Luis Suarez was not for sale, and then admitting that he could be if the price is right.

Rightly so, Liverpool publicly came out and said Luis Suarez was going nowhere. Saying anything other than that would immediately reduce his market value. But Luis Suarez had other ideas.

He came out yesterday and basically cut all ties with the club. He talked about giving everything to Liverpool, how Rogers reneged on a verbal agreement and desire to play in the Champions League.

The response from Liverpool and Rogers, was to force Suarez to train alone as he has shown “total disrespect to the club”. And if you’re on Twitter, there have been pictures going around of Luis Suarez crying, but whether they’re real are a joke are yet to be seen.

So this situation has now reached breaking point.

What will Arsene do?

The first option is to finally go and get him. It would be an understatement to say that Liverpool aren’t happy so what will it take for them to sell Luis Suarez? Some Liverpool fans are saying that they can be patient because he’s banned for the first 6 games of the season anyway and others are even saying they’d rather keep him and let him rot in the reserves.

But we know that’s not how it works.

Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri are players who have manufactured moves away and we haven’t been able to stop them. In the end, if a player wants to leave then the best thing to do is try and get the highest price you can. That all makes sense, but will Liverpool follow the same rules? They bought Andy Carroll for £35 million so you never know what the Liverpool hierarchy are thinking.

If Liverpool can play a waiting game then technically, so can Arsenal. Because of his ban, he can’t play for us anyway (although surely he could in the CL qualifiers?) and getting him on the last day of the transfer window wouldn’t make a huge difference. The problem I have is that the longer we leave it, the more likely he will move somewhere else instead.

There’s no doubt Luis Suarez has burnt all bridges at Anfield, and there’s also no doubt that Liverpool would much rather sell Suarez to another club that isn’t a “Top 4 rival”. If Real Madrid lose out on Bale, what’s stopping them chasing Suarez? If another big European club start turning their attentions to Suarez then there would be major doubts about him coming to Arsenal.

Liverpool have spent decent amounts of money this summer strengthening their squad and are targeting the Top 4. With Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea having superior squads then it is Arsenal (and Tottenham) who are the biggest threat to that. You can argue that Liverpool are still a way off the Top 4 but in their minds giving us Suarez would be a step backwards.

If Arsene doesn’t get his finger out and make something happen soon, I can see this whole sorry saga ending in tears.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more messy/messier (delete as appropriate), Brendan Rogers has ordered Luis Suarez to “train away from the rest of the squad” as a result of “his total disrespect for the club”.

In a press conference, Brendan Rogers stated that Liverpool have traditions and expectations and that Luis Suarez has shown a total disrespect for the club following his public interviews yesterday. The result of this is that Rogers has essentially seen his arse and ordered the striker to train alone.

Sounding like a jilted lover, Rogers again harped on about how Liverpool Football Club have “given him everything” and “supported him through all the incidents” and that Suarez’s behaviour was unacceptable. Call me cynical, especially after the departures of players like Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie, but the fact of the matter is most footballers these days are mercenaries. That is the nature of the beast we face in these modern times, so appealing to a footballers “emotional side” and trying to guilt him into feeling bad about manufacturing has zero chance of actually making a difference.

Also, again call me cynical, but would Liverpool have “supported” Luis Suarez so much if he wasn’t their most important player? I doubt they would have stuck their neck out so much for a reserve player.

So that’s where we are. Unfortunately for Luis Suarez and Arsenal, according to PFA Chief Executive Gordon Taylor the £40 million release clause only means Liverpool have to “discuss the possibly of a transfer” and doesn’t mean they are obligated to sell at that price.

So the ball is very much in Arsenal’s court now. Even if Suarez hands in a transfer request and takes the case to the Premier League, the bottom line is Liverpool do not have to sell. So there are only 2 possibilities left to end this whole saga. We either bid higher (around £45-£50 million) and hope Liverpool consider it, or not bid at all and lose out on getting Suarez – leaving him at a football club he doesn’t want to be at.

Over to you now, Arsene.

Just as you thought the Luis Suarez saga would go on and on into the latter stages of the transfer window, something unexpected happened – in what is somewhat ironic, Luis Suarez came out and used the “horrible British media” to give his side of the story.

In interviews with The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph, the Uruguay striker revealed all regarding the situation with Liverpool, and how he is prepared to submit a transfer request by the end of the week if the club continue to block his move to Arsenal. He also stated that he is willing to take the case to the Premier League and already has the backing of the Professional Footballer’s Association.

So in basic terms, he has burnt all bridges with Liverpool Football Club.

He also picked up on some other issues, including the comments made by David Brent… I mean Brendan Rogers. I’ve already questioned what they were smoking over there at Anfield, with Rogers saying “Arsenal lack class” and his methods for valuing players. Despite saying that Suarez was not for sale (and then admitting if the price was right then they might consider it) and that Suarez understood the club position not to sell, Suarez said:

“I spoke with Brendan Rodgers several times and he told me: ‘Stay another season, and you have my word if we don’t make it then I will personally make sure that you can leave.'”

So another lie from the classless Brendan Rogers then.

Rogers has also stated several times that Liverpool would never sell a player, particularly Suarez, to another Premier League rival. But in what will sting for Liverpool fans and their management, Luis Suarez makes it clear he doesn’t think that Arsenal are Liverpool’s rivals:

“It is not as if I am asking to move to a local rival. And I would not consider moving to a club outside the Champions League. I have made my desire to move known in private various times and now it feels like the time for me to make it public.

Ouch.

And I’m sure by now that you have read the full interviews from The Guardian and The Telegraph. So what does this mean in terms of the potential transfer?

Well apart from being completely hilarious, it would suggest it is now make or break time. It is undeniable that the relationship between Arsenal and Liverpool is an extremely fractious one. Liverpool believe that Arsenal have made derisory bids, and lack class with their £40 million and £1 bid to trigger a release clause. Despite Suarez’s public declaration that he wants to leave, I would fully expect this to still be a very messy affair.

As Arseblog has already suggested, with Liverpool’s very public defiance to sell and with their American owner using Twitter to “have a pop” at Arsenal, they will not want to lose face in this situation and make it very hard for us to complete any transfer for the player. Even with Suarez coming out and basically cutting all ties with the Anfield club, they won’t make it easy for us to get him.

He still has 3 years left on his Liverpool contract but in our favour is the fact Luis Suarez is very proactive in making his move away – he did the same kind of thing when he wanted to move to Ajax from Groningen in 2007.

So now is a very sensitive time in the whole saga and any wrong move could jeopardise any deal between the clubs. The most likely outcome is that Arsenal will have to offer Liverpool a slightly improved bid so they can save face. I would be extremely shocked if even after Suarez puts in a transfer request and takes the case to the Premier League, that Liverpool would accept the offer of £40 million plus £1. I would say a bid of around £45 million would probably be enough to end this saga once and for all.

But will Arsene Wenger play hardball and stick to his “classless” and now famous offer of £40 million and £1 and hope Liverpool crack?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Once again we’re in a situation where a signing of a striker is turning into a massive saga. The rumours, suspected deals and negotiations seemed to take forever and in the end we were all majorly disappointed, and Higuain ended up joining Napoli. For whatever reason (Napoli swooping in or Real Madrid hiking up the price), we just seem incapable of sealing deals.

And onto Luis Suarez.

We put in a first bid of £30 million which was immediately turned down. Then we offered the famous £40 million and £1 because we believed that it would trigger a clause in Suarez’s contract. It’s not 100% clear if that’s true and as Liverpool are adamant there is no such clause it seems as if Arsenal have been fed misinformation on the matter.

So we’re in a kind of purgatory, and Arsenal fans are used to this by now.

You can only assume Liverpool want an improved offer, somewhere in the region of £50 million, while Arsenal want him for £40 million or only slightly more. If Arsenal were willing to pay £50 million plus then they would have done it by now.

But then again, it could be some gamesmanship from Arsene Wenger and Arsenal. It is clear to every man and his dog that Luis Suarez wants to leave, and the longer the transfer window goes on, the more desperate Liverpool will become. It would not be beyond the realms of possibility that Arsene will wait until the 11th hour and then put in a final day bid of something like £43 million and hope Liverpool cut their loses. Anything to get a deal right?

So do you think the deal will happen or will this be another missed opportunity?

All along I’ve said the transfer wouldn’t happen, because of this attitude and reputation, the fact it would completely smash our previous transfer record and because I had a feeling that the “bidding” for Suarez was posturing, partly because we all know Liverpool wouldn’t take £30 or £40 million.

But call it blind faith or optimism, but at this moment I am not 100% sure it won’t happen. There’s a part of me that thinks that Arsene could put a rabbit out of the hat and actually make a big signing.

Will it happen? Leave what you think in the comments below!