Newcastle United have some excellent players in their squad right now.
Indeed, there are some brilliant talents on the books at Newcastle United, forming a group who made history earlier this season by winning the Carabao Cup.
This is a brilliant time to be a supporter at St James’ Park. Newcastle have one of the most expensive squads in world football, with talents such as Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali surely the envy of plenty of clubs around the world.
While that hasn’t always been the case in terms of the squad as a whole, Newcastle have enjoyed a proud history of boasting some supreme talents over the years.
Alan Shearer is the obvious example of course but pundit Patrice Evra was recently speaking about the quality of a certain Hatem Ben Arfa.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
Patrice Evra blown away by Hatem Ben Arfa
According to Transfermarkt, Newcastle paid around £5million for Ben Arfa in the summer of 2011 after the Frenchman had initially spent a season on loan from Marseille.
The winger proved a cult-hero on Tyneside. Ben Arfa only actually made 86 appearances for the club across a five-year spell, scoring 14 goals while registering 16 assists.
Still, the quality of some of his strikes will live long in the memory. Ben Arfa’s brilliant goal for Newcastle against Bolton won’t be forgotten, nor will his excellent strike against Blackburn to name but a few.
Games Goals Assits
86 14 16
Hatem Ben Arfa’s stats for Newcastle United
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It’d be fair to say Ben Arfa never really fulfilled his full potential but that’s not really the point. A mercurial talent, he was a joy to watch at Newcastle at times.
Speaking on the SDS Podcast, Evra – who played with Ben Arfa for France – said: “Ben Arfa, I’ve never seen something like that. It’s crazy because Ben Arfa, he doesn’t care.
“He will come to training say, ‘I don’t want to train today’. Like from nowhere, it’s like that.”
Why did Hatem Ben Arfa leave Newcastle United?
As is sometimes the case with maverick talents, it all ended rather sourly.
Former manager Alan Pardew confirmed that Newcastle terminated Ben Arfa’s contract because he “antagonized players and staff”.
He spent some time on loan at Hull before joining Nice after leaving St James’, going on to play for Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in 2022 after a spell at Lille.
Ben Arfa was brilliant in patches. During a pretty bleak era for the club, he was a shining light. It could be argued that the team still don’t have a player as exciting to watch as him in full flow but that’s not a bad thing. In a team challenging for major trophies, Ben Arfa’s inconsistency would no doubt cost him.