Why Newcastle United Were Wrong to Let Hatem Ben Arfa Go

The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Hatem Ben Arfa is a diminutive figure cutting in from the right wing and jinking past helpless defenders before lashing the ball into the net, invariably with his left foot.

The 27-year-old French international is, along with Yohan Cabaye, undoubtedly one of the most natural talents Newcastle United have had in recent years.

Yet Toon manager Alan Pardew—as with Cabaye, though in this case voluntarily—decided to dispense with the mercurial Ben Arfa, shipping him down the east coast on loan to Hull City, where he has yet to make a competitive appearance.

Magpies fans, while somewhat perplexed, reason that a lack of overall effort served as the Frenchman’s downfall, and anyone who has watched Ben Arfa week-in and week-out would agree that he does not make the most of his ability.

Then there are the rumours of a clash with Pardew, a theory that is fairly probable given the two parties’ strong personalities and one that the Newcastle helmsman exacerbated when he accused Ben Arfa of lacking “professionalism,” as reported in August by Simon Bird of the Mirror.

But putting the potential financial cost to one side, were Pardew and Toon owner Mike Ashley right to offload their inconsistent yet occasionally astonishing playmaker?

Goals and Assists

In 86 appearances for Newcastle, Ben Arfa has scored 14 goals and provided another 17 for his teammates—a rate of one every 2.8 games.

It is perhaps not quite the contribution you would expect from a player of his talent, particularly considering his side’s overall goal tally over recent seasons, but it is still 0.6 better than the Toon’s next-best goals-per-game winger, Yoan Gouffran.

Now let’s look at the rates of the other wingers in the squad (to make it fair we’ll only use players who have been on Tyneside for at least a season): Gouffran, 3.4; Jonas Gutierrez, 5.3; Gabriel Obertan, 5.7; and Sammy Ameobi, 6.5. Gutierrez and Ameobi are both better utilised down the left.

Also, you have to bear in mind that prior to a long-term hamstring injury in 2012-13, Ben Arfa scored or created 14 goals in 36 Newcastle appearances, or one every 2.5 games.

Regardless of the “prima donna” accusations, the numbers speak for themselves.

Flair

They say that results are the most important aspect of getting fans in the stands, closely followed by the quality of the football.

While this might not be as much of an issue in a city the size of Newcastle, where there is only one “big” club—last season’s average attendance at St James’ Park was 50,517—the Toon Army still expect to get their money’s worth.

Gouffran and Gutierrez have their moments, while new boy Jack Colback will be monitored very closely following his summer transfer from fierce rivals Sunderland, but there is no one in the squad who really gets near Ben Arfa in terms of invention, audacity and raw skill.

Using transfer figures found on Transfermarkt.co.uk, The Mag's Jim Robertson calculated Newcastle’s net spend since Mike Ashley took over has yielded a profit of £18,901,600 up until this summer’s almost £40 million outlay on nine players, but that includes the huge sums generated by the sales of Andy Carroll and Yohan Cabaye in the same time period.

But for a club of its size, the fans expect a little more than the 12th-, fifth-, 16th- and 10th-place league finishes since arriving back in the Premier League four years ago.

And failing that, they at least want to look good doing it.

Depth of position

In addition to the four players mentioned earlier—Gouffran, Gutierrez, Obertan and Ameobi—Pardew has brought in Ayoze Perez and Emmanuel Riviere from Tenerife and Saint-Etienne, respectively.

Both players have good goal-creation records with their former clubs—Perez with 23 in 41 appearances and Riviere 31 in 85—but without disrespecting Spain’s Segunda Division and the French Ligue 1, neither are up to the Premier League’s standard.

Pardew claimed in August that he wants to win a trophy this season, as reported by Lee Ryder of the Chronicle, and he has spent accordingly.

However, draws with Aston Villa and Crystal Palace in their opening two encounters—including throwing away a 90th-minute lead at home to the Eagles—do not bode well, and there are reports of the Newcastle manager having two games to save his job, per Martin Hardy of The Independent.

Given the Premier League’s status as arguably the toughest division in world football, Pardew will have to hope that his summer signings settle in quicker than most.

Helping out your regional rivals

This one goes without saying: Don’t gift your enemies one of your best players.

And if you do, make sure you charge a premium—a loan deal just does not cut it with the club accountants or the fans.

All stats courtesy of Transfermarkt.co.uk unless linked otherwise.