Contract termination is approaching
After it was reported at the beginning of the week that Hatem Ben Arfa was threatened with leaving LOSC Lille after less than three months, the veteran attacked trainer Jocelyn Gourvennec violently via Instagram on Friday. “Are you talking about a madman? You and your president (Olivier Létang; editor’s note) are the craziest. Your problem is incompetence,” wrote the 35-year-old ex-France international in his story (screenshot at “RMC Sports“).
After the 0-0 draw against Girondins Bordeaux last weekend, Lille had initiated internal proceedings against Ben Arfa. “L’Équipe” had reported that Ben Arfas in the dressing room had made a loud, verbal attack on 21-year-old LOSC colleague Tiago Djaló. Ben Arfa then railed against other team-mates and got into a war of words with coach Jocelyn Gourvennec, who wanted to calm the situation down – an incident that would leave its mark, according to the newspaper’s assessment.
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“RMC Sport” now reports that Ben Arfa accused the coach of playing too defensively. “We’re not playing against relegation. We’re too deep and don’t play like a team that wants to go to the European Cup,” the former PSG professional is said to have said. “This is not Guingamp.” Gourvennec worked for today’s second division club EA Guingamp from 2010 to 2016 and between November 2018 and May 2019. Defending champion Lille is currently in seventh place, four points behind the European Cup ranks. With 38 goals, the club has the fewest in this segment.
Gourvennec on Ben Arfa’s freak: ‘Never seen anything like it’
Gourvennec addressed the incident at a press conference on Friday without mentioning Ben Arfa by name. A little vaguely, he said: “There can be problems in any kind of job. When we’re in a job where there can be dirty tricks, some of which are barely noticeable or acceptable… Just because there are crazy people doesn’t mean you’re a crazy person yourself. That’s all. After all, everyone does what they want and everyone has the ethics they want.”
The 50-year-old conceded that Lille does some things well, others less so: ‘We win games or we don’t, we play either way, that’s one thing but ethics are very important to me. I’ve been in the football world for 34 years and I’ve never seen anything like it.” He doesn’t want to teach a lesson, but he knows what he wants and expects – and what he doesn’t. “And that’s the path I’m going to take.”
“RMC Sport” continues to write that Ben Arfa’s contract, which was only signed in January and runs until the end of the season, is expected to be terminated in the coming week. Before that, the offensive player was invited to a meeting with the club management. Ben Arfa has featured in seven games since arriving in Lille, with one assist. With the exception of the Champions League knockout in the round of 16 against Chelsea, the club has been unbeaten and clean sheets in seven games.
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