Would be a decent signing but we should have got him before newcastle got him on a permanent, having said that wenger knows of ben arfa and if he wanted him he would have been here by now. BTW he is much better than nasri.

Newcastle got cabaye (4m) ben arfa (2m) tiote (3.5m) and ba for 9.5 million what a bargain. As soon as arsenal are mentioned in france the fee trebles.

I'd take him, especially if we have problems signing Theo, but Newcastle would never let him go, and he's happy there anyway. Stupid rumour.

20 million euro's y'say? Count on this happening then.

Think he's the type of wide player we need to balance things up. I can't see us going for him unless Walcott leaves though.

If he could stay fit he'd be amazing for us. Chaps quality.

Incredibly (given the pisstake going on at the mo), he came back much stronger after his leg break...

Every player at Newcastle is for sale. They run a business up there.

That said, can't see this happening.

The type of player we need in my opinion.

I remember when it was between him and Nasri, and I hoped we'd get Ben Arfa because he's more of what I want to see from wide/AM type of players.

I don't think 20 million euros is even that much for him. PL trained and ready to go counts for a lot.

Since we obviously didn't get Gotze, Kagawa or Hazard, there are only so many more of that type available. Does anyone have any other ideas of who we could realistically get in that mould?

I remember the Sun printing that Ben Arfa to Arsenal was a done deal just before it turned out we'd signed Nasri.

We should definitely be looking at Newcastle as a club to raid. Why not? I don't see too many other clubs full of quality players we could take. Maybe they'd take some players in return, Diaby, Bendtner, Vela, etc could all be of interest to Newcastle.

Nela wrote:

The type of player we need in my opinion.

I remember when it was between him and Nasri, and I hoped we'd get Ben Arfa because he's more of what I want to see from wide/AM type of players.

I don't think 20 million euros is even that much for him. PL trained and ready to go counts for a lot.

Since we obviously didn't get Gotze, Kagawa or Hazard, there are only so many more of that type available. Does anyone have any other ideas of who we could realistically get in that mould?

Jovetic

I saw a lot of Ben Arfa when he was at l'OM and his later days at OL, and he was always better through the centre. He likes that spot better because he can see the play better (he is also very two footed), but on the wing he always cuts in and can congest play.

If we were to sign him, he'd do much better as a number 10. Only on the wings if there is an injury crisis.

i hate attacking mids that have to play centrally. they almost always have to play there to make themselves look good at the expense of the team.

i'd have been all for this 3 years ago as a sneaky deal on the cheap, and i'm surprised wenger didn't take a punt. i don't think he's worth the price-tag newcastle have on him now tbh.

Wenger has an attitude problem with the attitudes of players that are problematic in that Pardew's Wengeristic approach may differ slightly and significantly due to the centralistic yet widemanical play of said player with the attitude(s) in question, ipso facto ergo Visa card: we won't sign Hatem Ben Arfa.

A lot of hatem in this thread.

kamikaze wrote:

i hate attacking mids that have to play centrally. they almost always have to play there to make themselves look good at the expense of the team.

Riquelme comes to mind.

I love Ben Arfa. He would immediately be first choice here imo