How Much Is Ben Arfa Worth?

Every player has a price. Even Cristiano Ronaldo got transferred in the prime of his career. On the other hand, as fans of the club, we've grown to appreciate the talented and likable group of players that Newcastle United has assembled.

But if someone offers far more than a player is worth, being sentimental can damage the club in the long run. Papiss Cissé, and whoever Newcastle manages to bring in this summer, would not be wearing black and white if not for the Andy Carroll transfer.

Most of the club's best players have a fairly set value on the market. You wouldn't expect Yohan Cabaye or Cheick Tioté to leave Tyneside without £25 million or so coming back. It would probably take a Carroll-like offer to pry Cissé away from Newcastle. Demba Ba, of course, has the infamous £7 million clause. But Hatem Ben Arfa is a notable exception.

There likely isn't much truth to the rumors linking Ben Arfa to Chelsea or Arsenal, with quoted fees from £16-18 million. But it is enough to make you wonder. What sort of offer would genuinely entice Newcastle, which grabbed a disgruntled Ben Arfa from Marseille for roughly £5 million? Would any club be willing to make it?

For all of Ben Arfa's obvious skill, and his pedigree with title-winning clubs at Lyon and Marseille, the season-ending stretch of starts at Newcastle was the longest of his career. Managers have not felt confident using him as a regular starter. But if his exploits with his French clubs, and recent minor spat with Laurent Blanc, are any indication, that is exactly what he wants.

Though many people, myself included, criticized Alan Pardew for not taking a chance with Ben Arfa earlier, we can now see what the manager was doing. He gave the player a clear set of expectations: if you want to start every week, this is what you need to do. As Pardew put it in April, "it's his world when he has the ball, my world is when he hasn't." Ben Arfa responded by thinking about defense more than he ever had in his career, and found himself rewarded with a consistent place in the lineup.

When other clubs consider making a move for Ben Arfa, his flaws will be at the forefront of their thinking. He has been a model citizen at Newcastle, in a situation that suits him perfectly. He has close friends on the team, is adored by the fans, and has a manager who can draw the best out of him. Any other club to take him on risks getting the player who went on strike at both Lyon and Marseille, rather than the one who pals around with Cabaye and exerts some amount of effort in his own half of the field.

In other words, Ben Arfa may not even be worth £16 million to anyone besides Newcastle United. And the club would probably not bother with the lower offers that may trickle in over the summer. To everyone else, Ben Arfa may be more risky than talented. But thanks to Pardew, he's a player who can help Newcastle build on last season's success.

Comments

[chris]

fair article and I think your right... for me despite his ability a fair price would be around 15-18m but like you said because of the occasional temper tantrum he's had in the past other clubs will rate him closer to 8-10m which would still be double what we paid but not enough i'd think for shley et al to part ways with him unless he did something at our club whic hso far he has not.

[Retes]

50 m, world class whatever anyone says

[Ben arfa fan]

To us he is priceless, Produces moments of magic you will remember forever and makes you look forward to the next game just to watch him play again , but in the football world 15-20m is his bracket

[LittleG]

a true entertainer like HBA must be worth at least £35M - after all Avatar went for that amuot

[usatoonarmy]

22m imo