Ben Arfa close to Newcastle switch?
Posted on August 5th, 2010 | 164 Comments |
The source is Italian publication Tutto Mercato, who claim that Ben Arfa has rejected bids from Hoffenheim, AC Milan and Parma and has chosen Newcastle as the place he would like to move to.
I’m not too sure of the legitimacy of the Italian press, or of the legitmacy of these reports, but they do seem to correlate with what has been reported on the French press over the past few days. The Ben Arfa saga most definately rolls on then, and it looks like it is the player himself who is trying to place Newcastle in the box seat to capture the signature of the 23-year old talented midfielder.
But if this is true, what are the choices of the player? Let’s look at the wider picture, as I understand it, rather than just the one report. Marseille want to get rid of Ben Arfa, for whatever reason, and they need the money so they can start their own transfer activities. They are going to want the best deal for themselves, which is understandable.
The big problem with that is that Ben Arfa has a contract at Marseille and can’t be forced to move to a particular club if he doesn’t want to go. It is this fact that has lead to Marseille apparently having to contact Newcastle again to try to re-negotiate the deal that was originally turned down.
Basically, if a player doesn’t want to move then he doesn’t have to, and if Marseille want the cash so badly then they will be forced to play ball with Ben Arfa’s preferred club, which is apprently us if the French press are to be believed.
Anyway, it’s all starting to drag on a bit now and I hope it gets sorted one way or the other pretty damn quickly. It looks like Newcastle have missed out on signing Tom Cleverley on loan now as he looks set to join Wigan for the season, so there is another transfer option gone, but perhaps it could force the club into pulling their finger out and not allowing Ben Arfa to slip through the net?
Here is to hoping!
Just read somewhere else that we have had a £5.5 million bid accepted.