Mercato: Ben Arfa, the insides of his arrival in the club of Ronaldo

Hatem Ben Arfa often bounces like a rugby ball: not necessarily where you expect it. The former Parisian, without an employer since the end of last season and the end of his contract in Rennes, signed up for six months with Valladolid, current… sixteenth in the Spanish championship.

The low prestige of this Spanish club may surprise in that Ben Arfa had the profile to seduce more upscale or richer clubs. He has also recently refused very attractive offers from Turkey, China and the United Arab Emirates. He did not follow up on the interest of the president of FC Nantes, Waldemar Kita, a few weeks ago. By his own admission, he favored envy over financial choice. In the meantime, he mainly focused on settling his financial dispute with PSG.

Pending the offer of his dreams, Ben Arfa prepared alone for six months, with the help of a physical trainer. "He is very sharp," says one of his entourage. The Valladolid staff was also very surprised. He is in a condition to play a quarter of an hour from Saturday when moving to Mallorca. And to find the rhythm sufficient to give its full measure, it will take a maximum of one month. "

He lost his father last month

Ben Arfa, who passed through England (Newcastle, Hull City), had never hidden that he dreamed of playing one day in La Liga but his arrival in Valladolid did not seem obvious at first. Except that the boss of the club is not just anyone. It is the Brazilian Ronaldo, twice winner of the World Cup, who owns 51% of the club shares. The double Golden Ball was the idol of Ben Arfa. The first meeting between the two men started everything.

In English, Ronaldo spoke to him about play and tactics. This is the speech that Ben Arfa hoped to hear. The connection was also facilitated by another Frenchman, Mathieu Fenaert, the managing director of Valladolid. "It was an easy choice to make," said Ben Arfa. I felt that the club was very interested. And since I work on instinct, I felt that it was a good place here. Valladolid is a very solid and supportive team, I can bring a little offensive creativity. "

At almost 33 years of age, his new partners should rub shoulders with another man: Ben Arfa has just experienced a personal drama which has enabled him to put the wait around his next club into perspective. He lost his father Kamel last month, with whom he has had very complicated relationships for a long time. But in the past few weeks, he had approached him and had often gone to see him in the hospital.