By Myles Palmer

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LAST NIGHT I got a phone call : "Have you heard the rumour? Baptista for Ashley Cole in the window? Do you believe it ?"

I had not heard it and I don't believe it.

Both players would be Cup-tied in the Champions League.

Yes, Ashley wants to join Madrid and I expect him to be there next season.

He only signed a one-year extension. That was a compromise by both sides. It gave him a pay rise, which he deserved.

But does Julio Baptista want to play in England? A Brazilian joining Arsenal in mid-winter?

Baptista would blow his already slim chance of making Brazil's World Cup squad in Germany.

We were told that Arsene planned to play Baptista in an attacking midfield role.

He is a big powerhouse with a big shot and he would make explosive runs to the edge of the box and score goals, like a rhino-sized Frank Lampard.

But Baptista hasn't done that at Real and he is injured at the moment.

At Seville, Baptista was the main man and the team was built round him and he prospered.

At Madrid, he is just another new player.

I'M STILL THINKING about who Arsene should sign and might sign in January.

I reckon he has kept Gilberto to help other Brazilians settle in.

But the manager is severely handicapped by the work permit regulations. He would like to sign young Africans and young South Americans, as Dutch and Spanish clubs can do, but if they don't have senior caps he cannot buy them.

That is a big handicap.

November 4th 2005.

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