Yes :
The star of Bordeaux
Hatem Ben Arfa arrives as a savior in Bordeaux.
The only rookie in the transfer window, the Girondins are betting a lot on him to sublimate an unattractive team and find the light and the top of the standings (12th last season).
The French international will likely be the key player and technical leader for Bordeaux.
With his undeniable technical quality, the attacking midfielder is still an outstanding dribbler, one of the very best in Ligue 1. For Bordeaux coach Jean-Louis Gasset, “Hatem Ben Arfa is a creator, a genius of football.
He is a player who can unlock matches, who can make assists.
It will bring us a big plus which may perhaps give us a little more ambitions. "
He can therefore breathe new life into and improve his entire team.
We can count on Gasset to put it back on stage
In addition to being a technical leader, the 66-year-old French technician wants his 33-year-old protégé to also be a leader in the locker room: "Ben Arfa must help young people progress, he must improve the attack line."
The experienced Jean-Louis Gasset, who knew Ben Arfa in Paris SG and in the French team, will do everything to enhance his “jewel” and put him in good shape.
Either at the heart of the game as a leader.
And the coach is counting on him from this Saturday (9:00 p.m.) for the trip to Marseille, his former club, as part of the 7th day of the Championship.
“He's fit (fit).
It is true that he had worked, he had a physical trainer, he did a lot of gym.
So it is acceptable ”, assured Gasset Friday at a press conference.
Despite his low playing time at Valladolid (5 matches played in 6 months) and his lack of activity since leaving after his contract in August, the number 8 seems to be in good shape and should be able to play his first minutes quickly. with his new club.
Ben Arfa knows Ligue 1 well
This transfer is a gamble.
But the native of Clamart knows the L1 well since he joined his 6th French club after Lyon, OM, Nice, PSG and Rennes.
An experience that will allow him to regain his marks quickly enough in a French Championship he loves (40 goals and 25 assists in 210 matches).
With his 33 years, the Habs with 15 selections have no time to lose and now seems ready to regain his best level after the failure in Spain.
And to regain pleasure.
Another element which means a lot, Ben Arfa had only one desire: to join Bordeaux and Gasset.
“As soon as I saw that the coach was Jean-Louis Gasset, it gave me the idea to work with this coach, because I really like his philosophy as a man and a coach.
Bordeaux remains a historic club, many great players have passed there, it is a great name in the French Championship.
In my head, I knew I wanted to come here, ”said the midfielder during his official presentation.
Before adding: “I already really like the way he plays his teams.
He is very focused on the offensive, he likes to create the game, excess on the opponent.
On this point, it is a relationship of play. As a man, I knew him in the France team and I had felt good energies.
For me, he's still a coach with a lot of values. "
The mutual respect between the two men and the paternalistic side of Gasset are elements that can allow Bordeaux to find the right alchemy.
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No :
Between brilliance and failures
After a good 2015-2016 season in Nice (18 goals and 7 services in 37 games in all competitions), Ben Arfa found himself at a dead end at Paris Saint-Germain.
The one who can also evolve as a winger played little between 2016 and 2018 in the club of the capital (32 matches in all competitions for 4 achievements and 7 assists).
The winner of Euro U17 2004 won a Champions Trophy (2016) with PSG before being gradually sidelined.
Two months after leaving Paris, the player from the OL training center bounced back in Rennes where he had a decent season (9 goals and 6 offerings in 41 games).
With the bonus of a coronation in the Coupe de France (2019) against his former club, PSG (2-2, 6-5 on penalties).
He offered the 3rd national cup to Rennes 21 years later in particular thanks to his shot on goal transformed.
The light went out after Rennes
Then, Ben Arfa is not retained by Julien Stéphan and leaves in the shadows.
The latter found himself without a club from July 2019 to the end of January 2020. He ended up taking the management of Spain and Valladolid, a club of which the Brazilian Ronaldo is the owner.
In Valladolid, its season is truncated by the Covid-19 and confinement.
The former Marseillais does not manage to make his place and plays only five matches without being decisive between February and August.
At 33, his physique questions.
Especially since he was unemployed for the last two months before signing for Bordeaux in early October.
The end of his career is approaching and it can now be difficult for him to go up the slope.
His new challenge with the Girondins, currently 9th, is expected to relaunch a career with ups and downs.
And it can therefore begin this Saturday in Marseille (10th) in an Orange Vélodrome stadium behind closed doors.
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