Baptista to Fire in Premiership Baptism?

Arsene Wenger has long been an admirer of Brazil's Julio Baptista and tried to sign the 24-year-old last year only for him to choose Real Madrid instead. However, as fortune has it, Wenger lured Baptista to the Emirates Stadium in a direct loan swap for unsettled striker Jose Antonio Reyes. Both clubs have the option to but the respective players at the end of their year-long loan periods. Wenger was adamant that Reyes will be staying in north London initially, but the Spaniard has become increasingly vocal with regard to his desire to move back to his homeland, citing his inability to adapt to London life as being the key factor. But the astute French manager will not let Reyes go permanently unless the price is right. Indeed, he branded Atletico Madrid's £8.1million bid for the former Seville star as an 'insult', and will probably not settle for less than around £12million. Baptista also formerly plied his trade with Seville. He was with the Spanish side and accrued an impressive haul of 38 goals in 60 games. At Madrid, he made 25 appearances, seven of which were as a substitute, scoring eight times. Julio Baptista has been installed as a 28/1 chance with Paddy Power to be the top goalscorer in the Premiership this season. His teammate Thierry Henry heads the market at 3/1 with Bet Direct and Paddy Power. Chelsea new boy Andriy Shevchenko is a best-priced 9/2 with Paddy Power to be the season's leading marksmen, while the Man Utd duo of Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha are available at 10/1 and 12s respectively. The Baptista deal is another potential stroke of genius by Wenger after his part-exchange deal with Chelsea, saw Ashley Cole head to Stamford Bridge and William Gallas in the other direction. Although losing Cole, arguably the best left back in the Premiership, is hardly an ideal scenario, £5million plus William Gallas seems like a fair deal.