West Ham United made a summer move for free agent attacking midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa, according to The West Ham Way podcast.
Famed Hammers insider ExWHUemployee reported on the podcast that the club were interested in a deal for the former Newcastle star, who was released by Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
He said [42:22]: “We did actually make a move for Hatem Ben Arfa. Now, that was a strange one but he was out of contract. He’s someone that we could have got but I think that’s not going to happen now.
“There’s two other players with Premier League experience that are out of contract that we have inquired about too. There could be a surprise signing at some point.”
OPINION
A West Ham move for Ben Arfa seems like a slightly bizarre one. The club signed Andriy Yarmolenko from Borussia Dortmund this summer, while they also have Michail Antonio, Robert Snodgrass, Felipe Anderson, Arthur Masuaku and Marko Arnautovic who can play on the wings. They don’t appear to be in any desperate need of another attacking midfielder, which is probably why the move was abandoned. No doubt, coming from a spell at PSG, the Frenchman’s wage demands were rather high, which presumably also contributed to the deal’s failure. The tidbit about the Hammers possibly being in for a different free agent was interesting though. The likes of Glen Johnson, John Terry, Alberto Aquilani and Samir Nasri are all players with Premier League experience who are available. Whether the club makes firm their interest with an official contract offer remains to be seen, but the club could definitely do with the help after a hellish start to their league campaign.
