L’Equipe is reporting that French giants Marseille could be on the verge of losing winger Hatem Ben Arfa to Germany after he once again fell out with the staff at Marseille, in particular manager Didier Deschamps.
Stuttgart are said to be the club monitoring Ben Arfa’s situation most closely with the club’s sporting director Horst Heldt having been over in France to keep an eye on the France international. Stuttgart are hoping that Ben Arfa’s poor attitude and regular falling outs with team mates and his manager will lead to him being available for a cut price.
Controversy has always followed the talented young France star; at former club Lyon he fell out with Karim Benzema and the duo were said to be on very bad terms despite playing together. He then went on to be involved in a training ground scuffle with defender Sebastien Squillaci which led to Lyon making him available for transfer.
Even the manner of Ben Arfa’s transfer to rivals Marseille was shocking as he berated Lyon as a club to the media and revealed that he would not turn up there for training again and they would have to sell him to Marseille. A €13 million deal was hastily agreed between the two clubs.
But Marseille have since suffered from the youngster’s behavioural problems – he has publicly fallen out with former team-mate Djibril Cisse and Cameroonian Modeste M’bami whilst he has earned the ire of both former manager Eric Gerets and current boss Deschamps for refusing to warm up or to attend training due to supposed injuries the club were unaware of.
Ben Arfa’s poor attitude suggests he is unsettled at the club and there would be a lot of clubs interested in him if Marseille did agree to sell him as there is a fine player underneath the troublesome exterior. Stuttgart are looking to act quickly though to take him to Germany and they must feel that they’re capable of calming down the controversial Frenchman.
