West Ham have failed in an approach to sign free agent Hatem Ben Arfa, according to French journalist Patrick Juillard.
The Foot365 reporter claimed on his personal Twitter account on Tuesday that even though Ben Arfa, 31, is still without a club since leaving Paris Saint-Germain at the end of last season, he has rejected the Hammers’ advances as he is holding out for a move to Lyon.
Quelques infos sur Hatem Ben Arfa, toujours sans club. L'ancien Parisien a repoussé une approche de West Ham et espérait apparaître pour l'OL comme un possible remplaçant de Fekir, qui est finalement resté. Le joueur et son entourage restent à l'écoute du marché… #Mercato pic.twitter.com/bVDaxo04uW
— Patrick Juillard (@PatrickJuillard) August 14, 2018
The 15-times France international, formerly of Newcastle United and Hull, did not make a single appearance for PSG last season and hasn’t played in a competitive fixture since scoring a brace against Avranches in April 2017.
Good move for West Ham?
Why would Manuel Pellegrini need Ben Arfa?
While the Frenchman is a decent player on his day, he hasn’t played for such a long-time and has a seriously unfortunate injury record, so the chances of him getting up to match fitness are pretty slim.
Even though it would be a free transfer, Ben Arfa would probably demand a big salary due to him just leaving PSG where he was more than likely on big bucks.
He’s done the Hammers a favour by rejecting them.
This is Futbol rating 2/10
Likely to happen?
Now that Ben Arfa has rejected West Ham, there’s no way of seeing this deal happening.
It’s fair enough that he is holding out for Lyon to try and snap him up as that would see him be able to stay in France and not have to relocate across the English Channel.
However even if Lyon don’t come calling, it’s hard to see the Irons going back in for him.
This is Futbol rating 1/10