In one of the more intriguing pieces of transfer news to have broken in recent times, it’s been revealed by Le Soir that Roberto Firmino has a release clause in his contract worth €98m (£82.6m). Not a big deal on it’s own, right? Granted it’s a lot of money, but football exists in a semi-parallel universe where it’s acceptable for one man to earn more over a period of months than some may in an entire lifetime.However, interestingly any club can trigger this, except Arsenal…

That’s quite a statement from the Reds, who have singled out the north London club for special treatment, it seems. This all probably harks back to the summer of 2013 when the Gunners believed they had triggered a release clause in Luis Suarez’s contract, which, it’s fair to say, angered some of the shot-callers on Merseyside.

‘But why should this Firmino stance annoy us now?’ we hear Arsenal supporters yelling. Well, here are THREE reasons…

Clear indication Liverpool’s won’t do business with Arsenal

After that incident in summer 2013, it’s clear that Liverpool have no interest in doing business with Arsenal. The Gunners thought they had bid enough to trigger a release clause in Luis Suarez’s Reds contract by offering £40m + £1, and the proposal went down as well as a fart in a spacesuit on the banks of the River Mersey, as John W Henry (the founder of Fenway Sports Group, who own the Merseyside club) illustrated in his below tweet:

Although business between the two clubs has not been plentiful, and likely never would have been anyway, knowing that Liverpool are not willing to discuss deals with them will come as a blow to Arsenal. It may seem a somewhat petty way to look at the situation from the offices at Anfield, but it’s clear they’ve been irked. Should they be in a position in which they have to sell a star player and the north Londoners come calling, it’s likely that Arsene Wenger (or whomever is in charge) will be left empty handed.

Firmino would fit well in this Arsenal team

Interestingly, Firmino would be a good fit in this current Arsenal team. There’s no doubt that Alexis Sanchez is doing a sterling job as the lone front-man, but the Chilean cannot do it alone and there have been certain games in which he’s been ineffective – granted they've been few and far between in recent weeks.

Firmino is arguably one of the most underrated players in the Premier League, with the Brazilian a dream for managers in terms of stats. He ranks fourth in the division for key passes (31), has netted five goals and averages 3.1-shots-per-game – the same return as Sanchez.

The ex-Hoffenheim man is also adept at playing as a ‘false nine’, which seems to be Wenger’s preference at the moment after years of favouring target men such as Olivier Giroud and Emmanuel Adebayor.

Spiralling valuations of talent

Worryingly for Arsenal, if Firmino is valued at around £80m, it shows that players’ price-tags are spiralling. This comes in the wake of claims that Sanchez and Mesut Ozil both want bumper pay packets to put them on terms comparable with other stars such as Paul Pogba, and is an alarming reminder that the Gunners’ financially prudent model may not be enough to keep them in touch with the sort of teams they want to rival.