The turmoil at Newcastle, at the moment, isn’t helping the team, and there’s a good chance it’ll cause some of their quality players to leave, including Hatem Ben Arfa, who has caught the eye of Liverpool and Monaco.
With Joe Kinnear causing a huge mess at St. James’ Park, and might not be able to spend too much in the transfer window unless he sells some players. Mike Ashley has spent more than £50 million in the last three transfer windows, which means the cash flow will stop unless some cash comes in from players leaving.
After a very short loan stint, ending with a vicious season ending injury, Newcastle ended up signing Hatem Ben Arfa, who enjoyed a fantastic 2011-2012 campaign, being the creative power that drove Newcastle to European qualification, but just like the rest of the team, in 2012-2013 his performances were inconsistent, as Newcastle struggled to remain in the Premier League, not to mention producing good football along the way.
Ben Arfa has scored 11 goals and has added 10 assists during his spell with the club, and is signed for two more seasons. The problem for him is his salary, just under £40,000 per week, making him grossly underpaid compared to a lot of other players at the club, which is causing some discontent.
Both Liverpool and Monaco have picked up on the situation involving the midfielder, and are hoping and contract talks won’t go well in the very near future. Ben Arfa is an attacking midfielder who usually plays on the right wing, using his left foot to find his way to the middle. He doesn’t score often, but when he does, it’s usually quite spectacular.
While Monaco are simply snapping up whatever’s available, Ben Arfa would fill a specific role for Liverpool, who are trying to load their offense with as many technically gifted footballers as possible, also thinking about players who can play more than one position on the pitch. Stewart Downing was usually their man down the right, but Rodgers is hoping that next season he’ll have better options than him to use.