Ben Arfa: from evicted to sign for the champion

Hatem Ben Arfa’s career has always been a mystery. Not because of its quality, something unquestionable. But because of the irregularity that, since leaving Newcastle, has prevented him from shining year after year. And it is that Since the 2014/2015 season, Ben Arfa has played for six different teams –Hull City, Nice, Paris Saint-Germain, Stade Rennais, Real Valladolid and Girondins de Bordeaux–, that is, one per season. When it seemed that he regained his best version, his performance faded again. However, despite his 34 years, the French striker will once again have an opportunity at the top level. More specifically, in the current Ligue 1 champion. As reported by French radio RMC Sport, “Jocelyn Gourvennec (Lille coach) confirmed that the attacking midfielder joined Lille on Monday, where he is training alone while waiting to sign his contract”.

Ben Arfa, who played 25 games with Girondins de Bordeaux during the 2020/2021 season, in which he scored 2 goals and distributed 4 assists, remained a free agent once the French team decided not to extend his relationship, which ended last month of June. There, In Bordeaux, the 34-year-old footballer played his last official match: 31 minutes against Stade Rennais on May 2, 2021. In other words, Ben Arfa has not been on the pitch for nearly 9 months. Despite that, the Lille coach, who got in touch with the player last week, is confident of having the player 100% soon: “We are waiting for the green light. I hope this is resolved quickly so that he can join us. It arrived yesterday. As soon as this is resolved, you will be able to join the party. From what we have seen of him, he is fit.”. Although Jocelyn Gourvennec added that “he has been checked individually and he looks good”, he did not want to spend more time on the imminent signing of the French player: “I will be able to answer more questions when he is signed.”

Just as the coach did not hide his intention and desire for Hatem Ben Arfa to sign with Lille at a press conference, neither did the entity’s president hide when, a few days ago, he was asked about his possible arrival. In statements collected by the French newspaper The Team, Olivier Létang stated that “in the event of Yusuf (Yazici) leaving, we have chosen to replace him. Hatem Ben Arfa is a free player who has qualities, so he is one of the interesting potential players for us. But the first step, reaching an agreement with CSKA Moscow regarding Yusuf, has not been taken.” And that is why, once the sale of the Turkish footballer to the Russian team was negotiated, Ben Arfa has the doors of Lille open.

Both Olivier Létang and Jocelyn Gourvennec defined the former Paris Saint-Germain player as “very experienced, capable of making incredible differences and it also fits with what we want: to have more efficiency, accuracy, precision. He is a player who has all these qualities.”. Lille, which defends the title of league champion won last season, is ranked 10th this season after a poor league start. Hence the importance of “being very competitive”. Gourvennec ended by stating that “Hatem fits into that framework. I have already spoken with him. But we don’t want to pile up players either”. Thus, Ben Arfa, at 34 years old and after 9 months away from the fields, will go from being almost evicted to signing for the French champion.

A fleeting step through Spain

One of the strangest chapters in Hatem Ben Arfa’s career was his signing for Real Valladolid. After signing a great season at the Stade Rennais, where he scored 9 goals and gave 6 assists in 41 games, the Frenchman also arrived as a free agent at LaLiga Santander in the winter market in January. He thus chose the Valladolid team to relaunch his career, but once again he went completely unnoticed. During the second half of the 2019/2020 campaign, Ben Arfa only played 5 games in the league championship, of which he started 2. A total of 158 minutes divided between Villarreal CF, Athletic Club, Celta de Vigo, Sevilla FC and Valencia CF. A yellow card in his debut at the José Zorrilla Stadium was the most that Ben Arfa achieved with the team then led by Sergio González.