Julio Baptista, a.k.a. 'The Beast, ' arrived at The Emirates Stadium
from Real Madrid in a swap loan deal with Jose Antonio Reyes in August
2006, but while Reyes went on to score the goals that clinched the
Spanish league title for his new club, Baptista had an altogether more
different experience in North London. Real paid Sevilla around £20m for
the Brazilian in the summer of 2005 despite interest from Arsenal, but
after belatedly making the move to London he often struggled with the
pace of the English game and was accused of being overweight.
Baptista
made his Gunners debut as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough
at the Emirates in September; Thierry Henry's penalty rescuing a point,
but after coming off the bench in the wins at Old Trafford and at home
to Sheffield United later in the month, injury ensured that he didn't
make his first start until a 1-1 home draw with Newcastle in November,
with his first Gunners goal arriving in the same month. After replacing
Aleksandr Hleb in the 81st minute against Hamburg in the Champions
League, he quickly struck to wrap up a 3-1 win in front of the Emirates
faithful.
The Brazilian was in and out of Wenger's league side, but was
soon to find some astonishing form in the League Cup. After missing the
earlier wins at West Brom and Everton, Baptista started the
quarter-final against Liverpool at Anfield in a tie that was originally
postponed due to fog. When it did finally take place in the second week
of January, just four days after the Gunners had won 3-1 at the same
ground in the FA Cup, it turned into a classic. Jeremie Aliadiere and
Robbie Fowler exchanged early goals before Arsenal took control, scoring
three times in the final five minutes of the first half; Baptista with
two of them.
He had a chance to complete his hat-trick early in the
second half, but saw his penalty saved by Jerzy Dudek, however, the
Brazilian soon made amends with a low shot to put his side 5-1 up.
Strikes from Steven Gerrard and Sami Hyypia threatened an improbable
Reds comeback, before Baptista struck his fourth of the game to cap a
remarkable 6-3 win. Two weeks later, and Julio scored an own goal to put
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 up in the first leg of the semi-final at White
Hart Lane, but linking well with Aliadiere and Theo Walcott he soon put
that right by scoring twice at the right end to seal a 2-2 draw and make
it six goals in two games in the competition for him.
Arsenal won the
second leg 3-1 after extra time with Baptista watching from the
sidelines due to injury. He had recovered in time for the final though,
but despite an early goal from Theo Walcott, Chelsea won the trophy
courtesy of two Didier Drogba strikes. That defeat signalled a
disappointing period for Arsenal, as they crashed out of the FA Cup and
Champions League to Blackburn and PSV Eindhoven respectively. Julio was
now playing for his future, knowing that Arsene Wenger was unsure
whether or not to sign him permanently, and he finally scored his first
league goal against Reading in early March.
Two more league strikes
followed in 3-1 home wins against Manchester City and Fulham in April,
but the writing was on the wall for Baptista and it became obvious that
his transfer would not become a permanent one. He made his last
appearance in a short, disappointing Gunners career on the last day of
the 2006/07 season in a goalless draw at Fratton Park. Somewhat
appropriately, he missed a penalty. (Mark Jones) |
CLUB CAREER:
2000–2003 São Paulo 75 (7)
2003–2005 Sevilla 63 (38)
2005–2008 Real Madrid 59 (11)
2006–2007 Arsenal (loan) 24 (3)
2008–2011 Roma 57 (12)
2011–2013 Málaga 29 (14)
2013–2015 Cruzeiro 36 (12)
2016 Orlando City 23 (6