Spanish Archer For Baptista?

Thanks goodness it's a quiet day on the Arsenal front. We are only due to sign three goalkeepers and a left-back in January. Oh, and I nearly forgot, we are going to sell Jose Antonio Reyes and send Julio Baptista back to Real Madrid.

Baptista is a strange one. So eagerly hunted by Wenger eighteen months ago, he has arrived via a convoluted route, and yet has struggled to prove something or another. The rumour mill has gone into overdrive. He's not fit? Well I would buy that if he hadn't now been with us for months. He is struggling to come up to the speed of the Premiership? I might go for that if he had been given a fair crack of the whip. His attitude isn't right? Looks favourite doesn't it?

Reyes is a player who had every opportunity to secure a golden future with Arsenal. Somehow it didn't quite work out for him. Perhaps his family were able to destabilise him a la Anelka? Maybe he was genuinely unable to settle in a foreign land where the star player refused to pass to him? Whatever the reason, he has not put us in a strong negotiating position with his current landlords.

Word is that the Galacticos don't particularly want Baptista back, and will drive a hard bargain for Reyes given that he is far from critical to their future. Where does that leave us? Do we really need the money that badly that we are prepared to accept a knock-down fee for Reyes?

Let's hope not. I would favour maintaining the status quo. We should keep Baptista and hopefully bring the best out of him in the coming months. Reyes can remain a temporary gift to our G14 partners, hopefully cementing a place in their set-up which will make him an altogether more valuable asset in the summer.

Don't suppose they would consider letting us have Robinho?