Hatem Ben Arfa

Hatem Ben Arfa is a footballer from France, born in 1987 in Clamart. Currently he is a winger at Newcastle United. He began to play football at ASV Châtenay-Malabry, and went on his youth career at Montrouge CF 92, AC Boulogne-Billancourt, INF Clairefontaine and graduated from Lyon in 2004.

He began his senior career at Lyon and made his debut in a 1-0 victory over Nice. Ben Arfa left Lyon for Marseille in July 2008 for a fee of €12 million. There he stayed till 2010, helped the side to win Ligue 1 title in 2009/10, Coupe de la Ligue in 2009/10 and in February 2010 he was named UNFP Player of the Month.

Since the end of August and till January 2011 Ben Arfa played for Newcastle United on a loan deal and then completed a permanent move. In September 2010 he suffered an injury, had a long rehabilitation period and began training in April. He made a return in July 2011 but during the summer tour in the USA he suffered an ankle injury. After recovering he appeared as a substitute in the match against Nottingham Forest on 21 September 2011.

Ben Arfa represented France since 2002 at youth levels and since 2007 he has been earning caps for the senior squad.