Silly season in full swing...

The real season is over so the silly season can now start!

Unlike previous summers, the big players have hit the ground running, with deals aplenty. The most significant so far, is Man City signing Gareth Barry.

Once Barry's agent had leaked the rubbish that Barry wanted to go to Arsenal, it was no surprise that one of the big spenders jumped in. It might have been Liverpool, but it turned out it was Man City who ended up paying £12 million for a 28 year old with a year left on his contract. Rafa Benitez was aiming to pay around £8 million, and with no other takers this might have been possible. In the end, the agent and Aston Villa must be happy with that fee, and Gareth "I want to play Champions League football" Barry has ended up at Eastlands. Apparently, Man City have Tevez, Eto'o and Kolo Toure in their sights.

The other saga is Kaka, who, I understand, is on his way to Real Madrid once his father, sorry, his agent, gets himself a pay day as well.

In terms of Arsenal, there is not much to report. The usual unreliable websites have started their unsubstantiated rumours that roundly get circulated and then turned into a story but at the moment there is nothing concrete to report. We shouldn't be surprised because that is how Arsenal do business. Sport.co.uk is reporting that we have signed the Ajax defender Vermaelen, and its no surprise that various blogs have taken the story and run with it. It might be true, but to be honest, sport.co.uk have not previously been reliable. They tend to run with anything that sniffs of a story and routinely link us with every player under the sun.

It seems to me, several of the big clubs will be spending a lot of the summer fending off interest from Spain. Man U will be fighting a determined Real Madrid to hold onto Ronaldo, Liverpool will be doing the same with Xabi Alonso, and Arsenal, if we believe the rumours are in danger of losing Fabregas and Adebayor to Barca and Milan/Chelsea respectively.

Predictably, Chelsea have been linked with several players including Ribery, Pato, Adebayor, as well as Kaka, not to mention Glen Johnson.

Interestingly, the rumour mill has not enswirled 'available' players like Roque Santa Cruz but we wait with baited breath.

So, dear gunners fans, hold your breath for an interesting summer, but remember to take everything you read with a gigantic pinch of salt.