Ben Arfa joins Lille

Hatem Ben Arfa has ended his eight-month exile from football after signing with Ligue 1 champions Lille for the rest of the season.

The 34-year-old, who gained cult hero status at Newcastle while also featuring for Hull City and PSG, had been without a club after leaving Bordeaux at the end of last season.

But after missing the first half of the 2021-22 campaign, the Frenchman has returned to top-flight football, joining the 10th club of his 18-year career.

Ben Arfa revealed he was delighted to have joined Lille and says it is an ‘honour’ for him to join the reigning French champions.

Ben Arfa told the club’s official website: ‘I am very happy to join Lille today. It’s a team that has shown a lot of great things this season, and obviously last year by becoming champions of France.

‘I am happy to sign in this club which continues to rise. I have faced Lille several times in my career, in different stadiums, and it will be a great pleasure for me to wear the Lille jersey at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

‘I know that many great players have passed through here. It is an honour for me to be able to take up this challenge, with the will above all to help the group and the club achieve their objectives. I feel very good and I can’t wait to get back to competition.’

Since being released from his Newcastle contract in January 2015, Ben Arfa became somewhat of a journeyman, featuring for six different clubs which included a loan spell with the Tigers.

He spent several years back in his homeland of France, signing deals with Nice, PSG and Rennes before linking up with Ronaldo Nazario at Valladolid in LaLiga.

He then returned to France and signed a one-year deal with Bordeaux in June 2020 but was not offered a new deal, making him a free agent since last May.

Ben Arfa has played 15 times for France, scoring twice for his country.