Hatem Ben Arfa in Newcastle for talks
Aug 14 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal
HATEM Ben Arfa was in Newcastle last night to push through his season-long loan move after declaring he will never play for Marseille again.
In another dramatic day in the prolonged transfer saga the 23-year-old playmaker jetted into Tyneside yesterday afternoon against a backdrop of rancour back in France but ever closer to clinching a move to the Magpies.
Ben Arfa wanted to talk directly to Newcastle after being fed up at what he believes is double-dealing for Marseille.
His lawyer Jean-Jacques Bertrand said all trust between the Ligue 1 champions and the player has disappeared.
Newcastle hope to tie up a deal on the same terms they thought they had agreed last weekend and their hand has been strengthened by Ben Arfa’s decision to go on strike in protest at Marseille going back on their decision to let him leave.
Aware of the sensitivity of the issue Newcastle are maintaining their silence and as of last night no deal had been clinched but it now looks only a matter of time before the switch is completed. Ben Arfa has reportedly been promising a central playmaking role at United.
Sources close to the deal told The Journal a transfer could even be concluded before their trip to Manchester United on Monday.
The player headed for Newcastle after being left out of the squad that travelled Valenciennes for Marseille’s weekend game. The subsequent
row that has erupted will not come as much of a surprise to Newcastle, who always felt that Thursday’s statements from Marseille president Jean-Claude Dassier were disingenuous.
He maintained Ben Arfa would not be leaving while his club officials continued to negotiate a season-long loan to St James’ Park.
Yesterday Dassier appeared to roll back from his assertion that the midfield schemer would not be leaving, saying that he would wait until things had calmed down after the weekend before making a decision on Ben Arfa’s future. But that was not enough to pacify his representatives, who came out fighting in an attempt to convey their anger at Marseille going back on their pledge to let him go to England.
In an explosive interview with a French TV station Bertrand said: “It was not Hatem that found Newcastle. Marseille employed a number of agents and they found Newcastle.
“The situation is like a woman who comes home to find her husband in bed with another one. The trust is gone.
“Hatem has nothing against anyone at the club.
“But the club and his manager told him last season that it would be better if he leaves for elsewhere.
“And at the beginning of this season the manager, the sporting director and the president demanded he found another club. This was made clear to him on several occasions.
“Marseille completely desired that he left.”
He also took issue with Dassier’s claim that Newcastle had not lodged a “serious or substantial” offer for Ben Arfa.
In his lengthy diatribe on Thursday the Marseille president accused Newcastle of trying to get the player on the cheap and said a loan deal would not be acceptable to the Ligue 1 champions.
But Bertrand maintains that a loan deal has always been on the cards and that Marseille knew the conditions – namely an £800,000 loan fee with an option to buy him for £5million at the end of the season.
“Newcastle accepted all of the conditions that Marseille asked of them,” he said.
“Marseille always said that it was an agreement to loan with an option to buy at the end. Newcastle, to our knowledge, accepted all of these conditions.”
Another of Ben Arfa’s representatives told French Radio station RMC earlier in the day that he would definitely be joining Hughton’s men.
“Hatem is going to Newcastle. His relationship with Deschamps is beyond the point of no return,” the unnamed agent was reported to have told the radio station.
