Newcastle Hoping Rolando Aarons Can Make Hatem Ben Arfa Decision Look Wise

Twelve months ago, everything was so different for Hatem Ben Arfa and Newcastle United. The mercurial Frenchman had started the new Premier League season in fine form, was the creative influence of his side and was beginning to think about the personal accolades he could one day win.

"I know some will still take me for a fool, but I still dream for example of the Ballon d'Or," Ben Arfa told France Football (via Sky Sports) last September. "I am convinced that this is still possible.”

To many it was a "Bendtnerian" declaration, one rooted more in the misplaced arrogance of the likes of Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner than any recognisable reality.

His Newcastle coach, Alan Pardew, did not dismiss the Frenchman’s ambition out of hand, but pointed out the level of commitment, as well as natural talent, that would be needed to achieve it.

"It's always a nice dream and I encourage players to reach for the stars, so all good to him,” Pardew commented at the time, per Sporting Life. "As an individual talent, you have to say he has the potential, but it's about consistency and staying fit with Hatem and if he can do that, then he will give himself a chance."

That chance, if it is ever to be realised, will not now occur at St James’ Park. On Monday’s transfer deadline day Ben Arfa joined Hull City on a season-long loan, a deal that does not include a recall clause. With the 27-year-old only having one year remaining on his Newcastle deal, to all intents and purposes he has already left the club.

Pardew and Ben Arfa’s relationship soured over the second half of last season, with the ex-Marseille attacking midfielder relegated to the reserves by the start of the new campaign.

Pardew did not discuss Ben Arfa’s situation at length, but the rumours were rife. Fitness was a problem, as was attitude—the same old issues and difficulties surrounding his character that had enabled Newcastle to sign him from Marseille in the first place.

Per Craig Hope's Mail Online report:

"

Behind the scenes there have been dressing-room dressing-downs and discord over tactics, friction with team-mates, a club fine for allegedly returning overweight for pre-season training and a difference of opinion in diagnosis—and subsequent treatment—of injury. 

"

The reserve exile was clearly an attempt to force the Frenchman out of the club, one Ben Arfa initially resisted. But, faced with a season of no competitive football (albeit full payment of his wages), both sides reached a compromise when Hull stepped in with their offer.

"To the Toon Army I want to pass on my thanks to all the fans that supported me during my time at the club and living in a city that will be forever in my heart,” Ben Arfa said in an open letter sent to the Newcastle Chronicle, one that conspicuously did not mention Pardew. ”I wish Newcastle the best of luck. I hope they have a good season.

“I can’t wait to launch my career again with Hull and Steve Bruce. I thank him for the trust he has shown in me bringing me to this club.”

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

For Pardew, the decision to ostracise Ben Arfa has been widely interpreted as (yet another) that could yet cost him his job. Ben Arfa had been Newcastle’s most creative and exciting attacking player during his time at the club and, although Pardew had bought a de-facto replacement in Remy Cabella this summer, the club had failed to score a goal in either of their opening two Premier League matches.

Although Cabella had shown glimpses of his potential quality, the fans were getting somewhat antsy prior to the club’s 3-3 home draw with Crystal Palace last weekend.

The result was still a disappointment—especially considering they were denied the win by Wilfried Zaha’s injury-time equaliser—but there was one shining light; the performance of 18-year-old Rolando Aarons.

The winger, a second-half substitute, scored one goal and set up another for the home side, in a glistening performance that perhaps also deserved to be a game-winning one. Nevertheless, it continued a heady rise for the Jamaican-born player.

Forcing his way into Pardew’s thoughts after a strong pre-season, Aarons was given his senior debut in the opening-day defeat to Manchester City—looking lively and dangerous in attack, even if a mistake lead to City’s game-clinching goal.

Having then caught the eye in the Capital One Cup victory over Gillingham, Aarons was subsequently given 25 minutes to impact the game against Crystal Palace. That he did, even getting on the scoresheet with a header, with Pardew full of praise after the game.

"There’s just something about him,” Pardew told reporters. “I have given a lot of really good players a debut—Jonjo Shelvey, Mark Noble, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain spring to mind—and I would put him in that category, where he is right now, but those guys see it through and that’s what he needs to do.

"He really has been a real bonus for us this pre-season and at the start of the season."

Ian Walton/Getty Images

The obvious, perhaps lazy, comparison is with Raheem Sterling—the Liverpool and England attacking midfielder who is similarly quick, agile and incisive on the ball. Like Sterling, Aarons moved to his current team from a smaller academy as a teenager (Sterling from QPR, Aarons from Bristol City), and now Aarons is hoping his progression to the first-term can be similarly electric.

“When I first came here from Bristol I found it mentally tough. It took me a while to adapt,” Aarons recently told The Guardian. “But after about a year-and-a-half I started to feel back to my old self.

“The coaches and the manager have given me confidence and have worked with me day in, day out to help me be the player I want to be.

“It’s not hard to keep my feet on the ground because it’s not my personality to get carried away with anything. I like to take things in my stride and I’m quite humble."

Jamie McDonald/Getty Images

With the national newspapers starting to proclaim Sterling as England's next great hope, Aarons (who has also decided to represent England at international level) has also drawn widespread attention in recent days. The worry with Newcastle, of course, is that owner Mike Ashley is always looking to sell if there is a profit to be made.

Adrian Kajumba of the Daily Star linked both Liverpool and Manchester City with the emerging Aarons on Friday, and the youngster's homegrown status and lofty potential could soon command a sizeable transfer fee—one Newcastle are so notably not going to receive for Ben Arfa.

Ashley, it should not need saying, cares little for public perception and would be remarkably unperturbed if an Aarons sale caused a fan backlash. The saving grace for the fans is that such a scenario cannot occur until January now, at the very earliest.

In the meantime, Pardew knows he needs his side to prove his handling of Ben Arfa was not a mistake.

If Ben Arfa was let go because of his attitude, then Cabella was acquired because the club believes he carries a better head on a similarly-gifted body. Aarons, however, might prove the unlikely emerging talent who really helps both the team and the fans move on from old memories.

With so much pressure and scrutiny already being heaped on his shoulders, how he continues to progress from here will be illuminating as to his future prospects—whether he has the mental make-up that Pardew clearly believed Ben Arfa lacked.

"Things come unstuck and you start losing your flow and your ideas,” as Pardew said last weekend, “and then you just need that sub to make an impact."