Hatem Ben Arfa is closing in on a move to Europa League winners Sevilla, despite the offer of a Premier League return from West Ham, as per Turkish source Sabah.
Ben Arfa had the potential to be a world-beater and was expected to be the future of French football, but his rotten attitude derailed his career.
A training ground bust-up with Sébastien Squillaci saw him fall out of favour at Lyon. Despite interest from Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid, Hatem opted to remain in France and signed for Marseille.
Moving to Marseille didn’t stop the controversy. Just two weeks after arriving at the Stade Velodrome, Ben Arfa was involved in yet another bust-up, this time with former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse.
Another fortnight on and there was more controversy. This time, Hatem refused to warm-up after being named as a substitute, in an incident similar to that of Carlos Tevez’s whilst at Manchester City.
After the bust-ups, tantrums, and missed training sessions, Marseille had lost their patience and shipped him out on loan to Newcastle. He scored a screamer on his debut, then broke his leg in the following game. The Magpies had seen enough though and opted to make the transfer permanent the following window.
During his time on Tyneside, the Frenchman was a success – albeit an inconsistent one – scoring 14 and assisting 16 in 86 appearances for the club. He was a fan favourite but fell out of favour under the reign of the then-unpopular-manager Alan Pardew. Stories soon surfaced claiming the player had a rotten attitude and had been fined for returning from the off-season ‘overweight’.
Shortly after these shocking stories surfaced with the intent of shaming Hatem, the 29-year-old joined Hull City on loan. He made just nine appearances before Steve Bruce publicly declared that he did not know where Ben Arfa was.
His loan spell at Hull was, simply put, unsuccessful and he then was released by Newcastle. There were plenty of suitors desperate to sign Hatem on a free transfer, but due to FIFA rulings on the number of clubs you can play for in one season, his move was delayed six months.
Eventually, Ben Arfa sealed his ‘dream’ move to Nice and had the best season of his career. He got his head down, focused and scored 18 times, while assisting six, in 38 appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit.
Fenerbahçe, PSG, Lyon, West Ham, Lazio, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, Liverpool, Fluminense and Tigres were all among the clubs reportedly vying for Ben Arfa’s signature, following his release from Nice, but it is the Europa League champions that appear to have lured Hatem.
Did West Ham dodge a bullet by not wrapping up a deal for Ben Arfa? Beneath the rotten attitude, there is without doubt a wonderful player but is it worth disrupting the squad harmony to accommodate him?
