Ex-Newcastle star Hatem Ben Arfa: The full explosive interview on his 'hell' at St James' Park and rebirth at Nice
• 12:57, 12 NOV 2015
• UPDATED 12:57, 12 NOV 2015
• BY CHRIS WAUGH
Hatem Ben Arfa has given an extensive interview on his final traumatic months on Tyneside and his joy at a France recall
Former Newcastle United midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has spoken of his “hell” on Tyneside under Alan Pardew and his reinvigoration at Nice in an explosive interview.
In France Football, the Frenchman details how he was a “prisoner” during his final months at St James’ Park, how he felt like he was being made to endure the “12 labours of Hercules” on Tyneside, and that he moved to Nice despite an offer “five times” as much from a club in Turkey.
However, Ben Arfa also claims that he does not regret any of the decisions he made during his career, that he feels refreshed at Nice and he also alleged that Newcastle fined him for being overweight during the summer 0f 2014, though he insists it was additional muscle.
The 28-year-old playmaker - who was released by the Magpies in January after falling out of favour at St James’ Park - has netted seven times in 13 appearances for Nice this season, earning him a shock recall to the France national squad. He could even play against England at Wembley on Tuesday.
During the summer of 2014, Ben Arfa was banished to train with Peter Beardsley’s reserve team on Tyneside before heading out on loan to Hull City, but the Tigers ended the deal after only six months.
United then paid off the remainder of the midfielder’s contract in January and, though Ben Arfa signed for Ligue 1 side Nice, he was unable to represent the club until August due to FIFA regulations.
Here are the main points from Ben Arfa’s explosive interview with France Football:
Question: Why did you get yourself so down at Hull City?
Ben Arfa: “It was a very, very difficult time. The worst of my career. It was a hell and it was the same a few months earlier in Newcastle.
“There, on the first day back in August 2014, I was placed directly with the reserves. A terrible humiliation.
“Weeks passed and I was always with these young sixteen, seventeen years on land away from those pros. I did not understand. They gave me a nightmare. It was full of little cheap shots.
“I was, for example, delivered a letter with a fine supposedly because I had gained weight hanging holidays. I had put on 2.5kg, but that was because I had done that much work I lowered my fat!
“I was also had my No 10 shirt taken away and they assigned me No 26 without talking to me at all. Finally, I was sent on loan on the last day of the transfer window to Hull City.
“But there, I could not stay because I had problems (with Steve Bruce). And when I believed in me getting out by signing in Nice, they were forbidden to hire me. It started to do a lot to me.”
Question: How did it feel in England in those last six months?
Ben Arfa: “I had the feeling of being locked in a dark place without a door, or in an endless tunnel. I saw hell and especially no way to resolve my problems.
“I did not see any light. I was a prisoner.
“I slapped myself every day to tell myself to not let go. I tried to convince myself that the light was coming back, I was going to find the right path.
“By signing this summer with Nice, I really felt out of hell. In fact, that’s it, I come back from hell.
“I found some kind of inner peace. it’s been a long struggle, much like the 12 labours of Hercules.”
Question: Do you feel appeased at Nice?
Ben Arfa: “Yes I do. This is the first time I have felt as good (as I do now); so serene in my head.”
Question: Why did you choose Nice? Because it was the only club to be interested in you?
Ben Arfa: “Not at all. It was not even the best financial offer made to me. Far from it.
“In Turkey, I was offered five times (as much), something huge! I also received offers from China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.
“But these projects never made me think about it, even for a second because I knew what I wanted. Nice offered me the ideal conditions for my rehabilitation. Yet initially, even those in my entourage, did not understand my choice.
“After my first conversations with the coach I was convinced that it was exactly what I needed to develop myself.”
Question: Did you feel you were playing your last card by heading to Nice?
Ben Arfa: “One of the last, yes. I knew I did not have many opportunities left to go wrong.
“But what Claude Puel (the Nice manager) told me and also Julien Fournier (CEO), they quickly convinced me (to come to Nice).
“They believed in me. There were some months when the gamble on my return did not seem obvious to everyone...”
Question: Were you disappointed to only receive the offers that you did?
Ben Arfa: “No, because I did not deserve more. I was in a situation of failure.
“I understand the clubs’ reluctance. Nice dared to take the risk.”
Question: What did you do during the six-month period between January and June 2015, when you weren’t allowed to play for Nice?
Ben Arfa: “When a long break occurs, inevitably you worry lots. I was a bit stunned, as if I had taken an uppercut.
“This judgment acted more as a result of several painful months in Newcastle and Hull. at a time when I turned around, I realised that I was in total failure situation.
“I saw the months roll by and I sank more. When the lost weeks stack up, you ask yourself questions. Time does not wait for you.
“I did not want to let myself get to the bottom or to let myself run away because I am still not done as a footballer.
“I certainly did not want to imagine my career ending with regrets and frustrations. In fact, at one point, I realised that I had no time to lose.”
Question: After the failure of your transfer to Nice in January, you admitted you might stop playing football. Were you really serious or was it a bluff?
Ben Arfa: “No, I could not live without football. At that time I was going through an inner conflict.
“In my head there was a little devil who told me: ‘Let it all go’ and an angel who said to me. ‘Do not let go’.
“It was a real fight. But the angel eventually discouraged the other.”
Question: What did you do during this six months off?
Ben Arfa: “I travelled. I went to Thailand, but especially to Tunisia where I stayed for two-and-a-half months.
“It had been 15 years since I had spent so much time there, in the Tunis neighbourhood where I grew up. It was important for me to go back at that time.
“When I was a kid, I went there for two months during the summer holidays as part of my family is there. Since I’ve been a pro, I did not have much time to return.
“There I had the feeling to repay the entire time I owed them. I found all childhood friends. There, I forgot I was a footballer.
“I lived in Tunisia: I went to the cafe, I was in shorts and a T-shirt all day without worrying.
“I found the images, sensations and pleasures of my childhood. it made me feel good to be back and enjoy some care-free time. I let go more easily.”
Question: Did you expect to receive a call-up to the latest France squad?
Ben Arfa: “Of course not. That is why I felt a big joy when I found my name on the list. Again, I immediately thought about the course I’d taken in recent months to get there. Everything I’ve done to get back.
“To be honest, I was also affected by the call. I come back from so far away. If I had not believed, I’d perhaps never have got there.
“And I have a certain pride in being able to get there.”
Question: At the age of 28, do you feel that you are just moving out of your adolescent crisis now?
Ben Arfa: (Smiles) “I do not know if it was an extended adolescent crisis.
“In any case, it’s true, I stayed a long time in the fog, a little lost, disoriented.
“I have a friend who called me ‘wild child’. And I think it suits me well (as a nickname).”
Question: Do you still think you’re a ‘brat’?
Ben Arfa: “I do not believe so. I think people look at me and do not see I have changed.
“And I will not say it does not bother me. Rather, it is a good win, right?
“For before, I pretended otherwise, perhaps to hide my face.
“This bad reputation weighed on me.”
Question: Do you no longer believe that you will win the Ballon d’Or?
Ben Arfa: “I will not trap myself by saying that, no.
“(He smiles) I can just say that I still have big ambitions. This season, I would first go as high as possible with Nice. And if it goes well, little by little, I will reassess my goals.”
Question: If you were to change one decision since the beginning of your career, what would that be?
Ben Arfa: “None. I would take everything (I’ve done). It is useless to go back.”
