Hatem Ben Arfa (39) almost returned to OGC Nice last January, according to a report from Nice-Matin. The Frenchman hasn’t played for four years. The former Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille, Newcastle United and Hull City winger last played for Lille OSC. His contract with Les Dogues expired in the summer of 2022.

It was Jean-Pierre Rivere who returned to Nice on a short-term deal until the end of the season back in December to become co-president, who was the instigator in trying to pull off Ben Arfa’s unlikely return. The former France international played for Nice for one season (2015/16), scoring 18 goals in that time. Since then, Ben Arfa and Rivere have always kept in contact, Nice-Matin report.

Since the expiry of his contract at Lille, Ben Arfa has been playing padel at a high level, but he was almost brought out of a retirement that he has never announced. The Frenchman was interested in the prospect of a return, however, given that he had not played for four years, some within the club were opposed to a deal. Claude Puel, interim coach at the time, was notably reticent.

Puel eventually agreed but on the basis that Ben Arfa trained either in Paris to get up to speed before joining the team, or trained with Nice’s youth team. That is where the prospect of a return broke down, as Rivere understood that those were terms that Ben Arfa would not agree to.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle