What happened to former Newcastle cult hero Hatem Ben Arfa | OneFootball

Highlights

Hatem Ben Arfa is a player that is remembered affectionately by Premier League fans as a player that the 'streets will never forget' alongside cult heroes such as Adel Taarabt and Morten Gamst Pedersen. The French winger was mesmerising at his best, with his silky dribbling tying many top defenders up in knots.

He is mostly remembered for his spell with Newcastle United - which spanned from 2010 to 2015 - but the 36-year-old has been a big talking point in the world of football on many different occasions. The former Lyon academy product has had a very up-and-down career with highs and lows throughout.

There was rarely ever a dull moment while the Frenchman was plying his trade at St James' Park as he dazzled fans with his incredible ball control and ability to weave through opposition teams at will.

Fast-forward almost a decade from his departure from the Tyneside club, and Ben Arfa is now without a club and has actually taken his professional career in a different direction, although he has still not announced his retirement from the beautiful game. We at GIVEMESPORT have decided to take a look at the career of one of the greatest showmen in Premier League history, and where he is in life now.

Ben Arfa's early career

The very beginning of Ben Arfa's flair-filled career came in the academy at Ligue 1 outfit, Olympique Lyonnaise, or 'Lyon'. The creative wideman made his way into the senior squad in 2004. Over the course of four years in the club's first-team, Ben Arfa made 92 competitive appearances - the most for a single club in his entire career.

His next step was a controversial one as the then 21-year-old moved to Lyon's rivals - Marseille - after failing to turn up to training in order to force through the move. This came amid reported interest from some big clubs in other top European leagues, including Premier League sides.

This temperamental nature would prove to be a common theme in the former wonderkid's career as he would employ similar tactics to force through a move to Newcastle only two years later. During his time with Marseille, it was reported that Ben Arfa had several bust-ups with teammates including former Liverpool forward, Djibril Cisse. The winger also refused to warm-up during a league defeat against Paris Saint-Germain as he falsely claimed to be injured after he was unhappy at being dropped to the substitute bench.

With a move to the Premier League being mooted in 2010, Ben Arfa made his intentions to make the transfer happen very clear, telling L'Equipe: "I will never go back to Marseille. It's finished. I am ready to not play for the season," after playing 91 times for the club and having just helped the team to a Ligue 1 title.

Lighting up the Premier League

Initially joining the Magpies on a season-long loan deal ahead of the 2010/11 campaign, Ben Arfa got his big move to the best league in the world. His first goal for the Geordie side came in a 1-0 victory against Everton on his full debut for the club. His first season in England was cut extremely short by a horror tackle from Manchester City midfielder - Nigel De Jong - that saw Ben Arfa suffer a broken leg.

Even with this horrible injury, Marseille and Newcastle agreed terms on a permanent transfer for the Frenchman in the summer of 2011. Goalscoring was never his strong point throughout his career, but the 2011/12 campaign was Ben Arfa's most fruitful in front of goal for the Magpies as he netted five Premier League goals and set up a further six goals for his teammates.

At the end of his first full season as a permanent Newcastle player, the tricky winger scored perhaps the best goal of his career as he travelled from his own half - leaving many opposing players in his wake - before poking the ball into the bottom corner of the net in a clash against Bolton Wanderers in April 2012.

This was certainly the high point of his career as fans around the world expected the talented midfielder to go on to massive things in the years that followed. The seasons that followed saw some glimpses of the unbelievable attributes Ben Arfa had to offer. Injuries did hamper the rest of his time with the North-East side and were ultimately the beginning of the end for the French player.

Attitude issues were also cited as one of the reasons behind not only his departure from Newcastle in September 2014 but also played a factor in Ben Arfa's demise during his loan spell at Hull City. A fall-out with Tigers' manager Steve Bruce was the end of his time in England as he headed back to France.

The return of the former wonderkid

Since leaving the Premier League, Ben Arfa has represented several Ligue 1 clubs including Paris Saint-Germain, but his best spell came upon his return to his home country. He returned to France to play for OGC Nice and the 28-year-old at the time enjoyed the best goalscoring patch of his entire career.

Ben Arfa netted 18 times in 37 games as he looked to be back to the blistering form he had once shown in the early stages of his career. The dominant force in Ligue 1 is PSG and this fruitful spell with Nice earned his move to the Parisien club.

The majority of his time at the Parc des Princes was spent as a back-up option and after scoring only four goals in two years, Ben Arfa was once again on the move. Bouncing around several mid-tier clubs, the 36-year-old has now been without a club ever since 2022 after yet another bust-up - this time with the Lille manager - brought his time at the club to an end. He has not yet announced his retirement but it looks increasingly unlikely that the former boy wonder will return to the hallowed turf as he is now involved in a completely different sport.

Ben Arfa's new passion

It could shock a few to know that while he has yet to find a new football club, Ben Arfa has still been a very active sportsman in recent times as the former flying French winger has seemingly traded in his football boots for a padel. That's right, the former PSG man is now a professional padel tennis player.

This is a Mexican game that bears similarities to both tennis and squash. This is the new passion that consumes Ben Arfa's life as the free agent is reportedly in the top 1,500 players of his new sport from more than 42,000 participants according to Le Parisien. His official ranking is 1,342nd in the world, and he is said to be spending a lot of his time on the new venture. Roland Mermillod - a padel referee - has said: "Hatem doesn't do anything more than that. He plays almost every day."

Alongside another former PSG player, Christoph Jallet, the 36-year-old plays the game regularly and looks like he may have left football behind for good.