10 Players Who Didn't Fulfil Their Potential At Arsenal

6. Julio Baptista

Loan signings can be a funny thing; with minimal financial output or contractual obligations involved, they can often be seen as win-win scenarios for the receiving club. Either the player performs well and earns himself a permanent transfer or he doesn't quite live up to expectations and can be sent back to his parent club before too long. The latter was certainly the case for Arsenal's Brazilian loanee; Julio Baptista. Nicknamed 'The Beast' for his powerful and physical approach to the game, it seemed that Baptista could add some much-needed force to Arsenal's team. After impressing in the League Cup for the Gunners against weaker oppositions, it quickly became apparent that Baptista was not finding any scoring form in the Premier League. It also became abundantly clear that he was not accustomed to Arsenal's style of build-up play and that his move was not going to last any longer than the initial loan period. In similar fashion to Andrei Arshavin, Julio Baptista will be fondly remembered for a four goal performance against Liverpool by Arsenal fans, but the less favourable out there will simply remember him as a low-risk loan signing that didn't yield the perfect result that so many loanees do.