Ben Arfa close to Newcastle switch?

Posted on August 5th, 2010 | 164 Comments |

Hatem tuned up for Toon?
Hatem tuned up for Toon?
Reports in the Italian press are suggesting that Newcastle have won the race to sign Marseille midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa.

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!

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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164 Responses

  2. Where did you read it? where where!!

    Would be an exciting aquisition for the team, as long as he can be kept disciplined. hopefully the team spirit and togetherness we haave at the moment will influence him and help him to improve.

    Although i wouldnt want to be a Citeh fan right now, i reckon Balotelli is gonna cause a whole heap of problems in that dressing room. he wants 180K a week!!!!!!!!!

  3. well done CH and MA for pulling this off – if its a done deal ofcourse!!
    Hope Cleverley is happy to play in front of 15000 each week!!
    Do you think Ben Arfa has spoken to Ginola or Robert and they have swung it 4 him??

  6. It was chris’s refusal to comment on ben afra yesterday that makes me think there is something in this. I wonder if we wanted ben afra instead of cleverly or aswell as?

  7. Our postie has just been & still no sign of my season ticket, is anyone else still waiting?

  8. Still haven’t seen any confirmation from a reliable source that Cleverly has gone to Wigan.

    It’s typical of you Poms to say you don’t believe what you read in the papers then just go ahead an believe it anyway. That’s why you all thought you had a chance of winning the world cup.

    It’s not Newcastle fans that are deluded, it’s every bloody pommie bastard that follows football.

  9. Just been catching up on the Cessepool saga too.. it seems that the Chinese governement backed group are in the lead to buy Cessepool off the yanks, this will mean that Cessepool will be as rich, if not richer than Manc Ali Citey to the tune of £209billion worth of assets & hodgson will get £150m to spend this summer, so watch out boys, we could be in for a rocky summer still to come!!!

    Sorry Toonsy, just wanted to get that in, as for us, lets hope we get his guy before someone else in the PL decides to stick a bid in, like the Spurts did with Modric remembers… :(
    Imo, it takes to to argue & if Arfa is anything like most of us, it may not all be down to him having the problems with attitude, even Zidane lost his cool remember, so everyone has their breaking point & maybe this kid has a short one but compared to Barton, I bet he’s a siant.. lol

  10. brisvegas………its because it’s not in the English press that makes it “possibly” true ;-)

  11. some lad on another site is saying this isnt a loan we have had a bid of 5.5mill accepted for ben arfa..dont know if its gospil like..

  13. Maybe missing out on cleverley who we have been linked with for ages just shows us chris has got bigger fish to fry???now for a decent striker and get a couple out on loan for experience and next year we will be a force

  15. Come on Toonsy, spill the beans, reveal your source….. your followers, the nation needs to know!

  16. noir9…………got mine on Tues.they are sent out in alphabetical blocks.My surname begins with M so if yours is back end of the alphabet you’ll have to wait a little longer.

  21. deepak – He called James Perch right, so I’ll give him that.

    I just think, like I said about Campbell, things are going along too quietly at the club.

  24. Toonsy…I said about Perch too before it was announced and I’m totally unreliable :lol:

  25. Agree fink this deal is nearly done,ch refusal to comment makes me fink its nerly there fink they will announce it like the routledge deal jus out of the blue once he’s signed

  26. I hope the news is right as there is no doubting the skill of the player and but I am waiting until .co.uk confirm it.

    In the main the Fench is more reliable and this Mercato report follows their take closely. Let’s face it if he didn’t have this ‘attitude’ problem, we would be getting nowhere near a player of his calibre.

    As to Cleverly: Daily Mail – Wigan, The Mirror – Bolton, and Talksport – scumbags down the road. Take your pick.

  28. Cheers richietoon, my surname begin’s with an A so I’ll call them.
    lesh, postie also reckons we’re getting klose next.

  30. I’m not that fussed about not getting Cleverly anyways, I mean the more time he was given to play, the less time our lads would have gotten & thats a big no no in my book, so good luck to Wigan if thats were he’s gone, lets just hope he doens’t play against us & score the winner :(

    Arfa is being reported as being in the UK, only kidding guys but it’s as good a rumour as all the other rubbish thats being posted in the Crap-loids today….

    Just sitback & wait, it’s the best way :)

  32. aye Noir9 ya should have had it,wor lass is C and got it last week(season ticket that is) ;-)

  33. Well ch is adament he has cash to spend well go n prove it n sign this lad it will b money well spent, if we signed ben arfa id b well chuffed wit this window

  35. And new reports in the French press;

    The departure of Hatem Ben Arfa is little doubt in the minds of leaders Marseille. Even if they would have preferred the money for hard cash at Hoffenheim to finance more uncertain for Newcastle, they seem willing to respect the will of the player to go to the Magpies, thereby reaping a bonanza precious and dispose of a salary of 300,000 euros per month. This transfer should know about a new advance before weekend talks with Newcastle-Marseille, Marseille could certainly help to finally recruit Alou Diarra, but it is now the case of a new striker is the priority of Phocaean club. This was made clear to the President Didier Deschamps, the Marseille coach is still anxious to see Mamadou Niang possibly take a tangent, so it was not scheduled.

    http://tiny.cc/donmo

    Through Google translate :)

  36. Gosling n campbell deals dragged on for ages wen seemed to have them done long b4 they were announced n ch wouldn’t make comment on them this deal seems to b takin a similar pattern

  37. yeah, season ticket came last week.
    wudnt it be great to get Ben Arfa and Klose!! now that would make it for me!

  38. Cheers guys, just spoken to the box office & it looks like the postie’s nicked my ticket…he must be desperate to watch ben afra & klose play

  40. i will go with toonsy on this one,he called the cambell one right,am i right to think this lad is more left-footed?
    never thought cleverley one was ever going to happen when we signed gosling,just didnt seem the way to go

  41. check him out on wikipedia (Ben Arfa) he will be a big test of team spirit and will make Insomnia look like a saint.
    I wonder if CH will be able to keep him away from Barton and Carrol !!!!.
    Seems like trouble to me.

  42. Jay Jay – There is a backlog on memeberships at the minute, but they are working through them. Any new orders won’t be sent out until September now though.

    Icedog – You know it makes sense (backing me I mean) ;) :lol:

  43. If the French report above is true then he DEFFO aint coming !!
    300000 Euro per month = >£60000 per week as his current wages!!!!

  45. Ordered mine on the first day you could, don’t really need it till the Blackpool match anyway, hope the postie doesn’t nick my wolves ticket though, anyone had problems with that sort of thing before?

  46. Doubt it french football rarely pays more than 25,000 aweek that’s why all the best players leave, also fink this deal will b a permanent deal

  49. Well maybe he’s either taken a drop in wages or Ashley is willing to give hims £60k a week, in any case, where OFFICIALLY has it been written that our wages cap is £35k a week, I don’t remember seeing it anywhere????

  50. klose is to old for ashley,cant say he does much at club level now,seems to keep himself for internationl games

  51. Klose is 4 year younger than Campbell & is still way better than what we currently have onb the shelf, so I for one would have him, still get 3 good years out of him :)

    Seen the report that Owen is going on loan to Bristol City… lol seems they wanted to loan Welbeck off the Manc butthat was refused but were offered Owen instead.. lol

  52. obvious difference being campbell is a defender, they age better. klose too old for a prem striker, never get another 3 good years oota him.

  53. … don’t you mean he would get 3 good years wages out of us … not sure what we would get in return

  55. Cyprus Toon @ 49

    The salary cap was probably menione in some tabloid somewhere – a rag nobody ever believes.

    So it must be true.

  56. Rough translation from French….. hopeful?

    The departure of Hatem Ben Arfa is little doubt in the minds of leaders Marseille. Even if they would have preferred the money for hard cash at Hoffenheim to finance more uncertain for Newcastle, they seem willing to respect the will of the player to go to the Magpies, thereby reaping a bonanza precious and dispose of a salary of 300,000 euros per month. This transfer should know about a new advance before weekend talks with Newcastle-Marseille, Marseille could certainly help to finally recruit Alou Diarra, but it is now the case of a new striker is the priority of Phocaean club. This was made clear to the President Didier Deschamps, the Marseille coach is still anxious to see Mamadou Niang possibly take a tangent, so it was not scheduled.

  58. nufc seem to be steering away from loan deals, which are very short-termism. gotta be good for the future of the club that they look to be taking this long-term planning stuff seriously and properly signing players. or not? still early days though…..

  64. brisvegas,it’s a wonder you can lift your hands up to type with your shackles on your wrists.
    coming on here with your pom crap,most of you convicts haven’t got a clue why you even call us it in the first place.
    you call us deluded,aussies need to realise that us in britain dont give xxxx about you,we’re just not interested in you and you convict brothers.

  66. The first game of the A-League season is just about to start on telly. Melbourne Heart v Central Coast Mariners. Don’t we have such catchy names? Gotta go.

  67. Think Ben Arfa would be a great signing if he lets his football do the talking ,also get nicky shorey for jose cover ,and Robbie Keane on loan ,then we sorted .

  68. aye ice,not looking good so will have to re-assess our options and start again mate……means I’ll get to see more games tho :-)

  69. However …

    Trojan 69 – nice one, mate. a knee jerker. Frankly, I don’t care that you don’t care.

  72. RICHIETOON shame m8 but it must not be right,your time will come belive me.

    good to see more game,and i can pick on you longer ;)

  76. Richietoon – Fowler’s playing for Perth Glory. Michael Bridges is playing for Newcastle Jets again. Craig Moore has retired.

  77. ben arfa looks a great player but there are times when he is bogged down and sometimes tries too much and gives the ball away like jonas….his main attribute is his dribbling….he can certainly take on players and has very good ball control…to some degree he has pace but i would say with the ball….and he certainly knows to use his body to sheild the ball…sometimes he just doesnt pass and takes all the players on…hope if he comes that ch can roughen that edege out……he s predominantly left footed player having good range of passing,however uses his right foot sparingly,has an eye for goal..and has a good shot in him…if he comes where is ch gona play him?

  80. Anyone remember when Glenn Roeder tried to bring Klose to the toon? He wasnt interested then, doubt much will have changed.

    Getting hopeful over this Ben Arfa deal though.

  81. Not sure what CH has planned for Ben Arfa as regards where to play him ,but away from home i would have carroll up top on his own ,with Jonas and Ben Arfa swapping left wing and free role behind carroll to keep oposition guessing .As for home games …..any idea lads ?

  89. John Trewick, John Ryan, Paul Cannell, Mick Mahoney (super goalie la la la la la )- Kevin Carr ;)

  99. The Marseille fans are saying that there manager Didier doesn’t get along with anyone and he’s had bust ups with backroom staff as well. Afra is tempremental though, but Didier is as well. He’s reportedley on about £15k a week. Do we really have a chance of getting this lad, I keep think Ashley is gonna mess it up at the last minute & we’re gonna be knackered come the season.

  100. stewy barraclough (his was a bit like Bartons – he had it ages and it never got any better)!

  101. i’m having a 70’s trip doon memory lane at the minute – we’ve had some terrible players by the way! ;)

  104. if quinny had one it would be”micky fat b*****d quinn”lol.john mcnamee centre half for newcastle during the 60’s,was that hard of a tackler they renamed him”knackmeknee”.

  108. Didn’t Charvet and that oter French defender have one? Goumas or summick. I realise I am probably totally wrong like.

  110. Charvet never had a tash like, just google imaged him. Dyer had full facial hair for awhile too.

  123. in 1972 at the height of the must have tash fashion, as a young soldier at Chelsea Barracks we had to have a “chitty” which amounted to permission to grow one, after a week though, if it wasnt prominent enough, you had to shave it off.
    Hope Barton starts a new craze off, he looks properly mad with his.

  124. bbb it was the same in the 80’s,had to get a chitty off my OC……….happy days.

  132. @Toonfan28,

    If your telling the truth Happy Days! but will not get over excited until it is official.

  134. @ Toonfan28 (133)

    I hope you are telling the truth.

    I had heard that Arfa was in London today talking to West Ham?!?

  137. @ pearceet says:
    August 5, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    If it is to be believed ToonFan28 says he has sign for 6 mil so would be permenant..

    @ToonFan28
    BTW is that 6mil £ or Euro?

  138. Well i’m only passing on what i’ve being informed & i already said he’ll sign for 6 Mil – So Permenant will be your answer Pearceet, West ham wont get him, trust me

  143. god i hope its true like,il be absolutely gutted if its not.i know not to get my hopes up n all but i just cannot help it! a player of ben arfa’s quality is something we havent had for a long long time.mercurial?check.french?check.left footed?check.looks like laurent?check. my fav toon players ever are salty sellars and laurent robert so im dead excited if we can get another sweet left footer in.by the way i have a selection of my nufc match worn shirts up at footballmatchworn.blogspot.com,check it out if you have the time.

  144. @saltysellars

    Thats a cool collection, how do you get hold of them. I would love to get a nufc match worn shirt!!

  145. @ salty ,impressive collection mate,are you in Germany as there’s a canny few Bundesliga shirts?

  147. ritchie-nah im in uk,just past carlisle.me mams from denton and me dads family is from hamburg,hence the st pauli and bundesliga shirts.couldnt bring meself to own any other english shirts and wanted to branch my collection out a bit so went german!! anybody got any updates on hatem coming?

  148. Is this lad gunna be a benchwarmer or kick jonas or wayne out?, ide just love it if we could get another jonas-jose relationsship on the right side. then just get balls on to carolls head. as for klose not a chance :D

  149. Spencer,doubt he’ll be a bench warmer(if he were to come)he plays mainly on the left but can play both wings or up front.

    Cheers Salty.just asking cos I used to watch Werder Bremen sometimes when I was over there in the Army.

  150. Where has all this West Ham chat come from…. looking over the internet there is no such news on any of their blogs???

  156. Nobody knows but it will be sorted out one way or the other in the next 24-48 hours.