Hatem Ben Arfa has been linked with a move to Leicester – and Claude Puel is not the only familiar face at the King Power Stadium.
It makes sense that Hatem Ben Arfa would be interested in a move to Leicester City; similarly, Leicester and new manager Claude Puel hardly need to look twice at Ben Arfa to see that he could be the man for them.
The France international is a player of immense talent, but he is currently underappreciated at Paris Saint-Germain – where the arrivals of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have left him out of the first team picture.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to Ben Arfa being linked with a move back to England – having starred for Newcastle United – and Puel’s Leicester are reportedly interested, according to RMC Sport.
Puel has coaxed fine performances out of Ben Arfa before, having had the player at Nice before he earned his big move to PSG.
But at Leicester, it is likely that Ben Arfa – who played in a forward role in France – would find himself shunted back out to the right wing, where wantaway star Riyad Mahrez currently operates.
The good news for Leicester is that – just as he has done with Mahrez – right-back Danny Simpson has previously developed a fine understanding with Ben Arfa.
The mercurial Frenchman’s best spell in the Premier League came in the second half of the 2011-12 season, when Simpson was also a regular at Newcastle as they finished fifth.
Ben Arfa may be tempted to Leicester by Puel, but it is important that there is a system there that then suits his play when he arrives. The 30-year-old has too often found himself quickly marginalised at previous clubs.
Simpson can certainly ensure a role for Ben Arfa, having grown used to operating behind an attack-minded right-sided player in Mahrez over the past few years.
The former Manchester United defender’s conservative approach perfectly offsets Ben Arfa’s ambitious dribbling.
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