Hatem Ben Arfa labelled 'biggest waste in football' - his goal v Bolton shows what could've been

Hatem Ben Arfa really was a merchant of madness during his days in the Premier League.

As the quintessential ‘streets will never forget’ star, Ben Arfa made a habit of running opposition defensive lines ragged with his unerring style and panache.

At times, it looked as though the ball was glued to his feet and, during those joyous Newcastle United days, he really did look capable of going on to become one of the greats.

Sadly, for one reason or another, it just never quite worked out for the Frenchman as his career slowly began to lurch into obscurity.

He returned to his native France where he enjoyed productive spells with Marseille and Lyon but they were never truly groundbreaking.

The now 35-year-old just never managed to hit the heights that his early career promised and now his agent has spoken out on what he believes is possibly the biggest waste in football.

Speaking to RMC Sport, Frederic Guerra said:

“It’s a psychological thing from his childhood. He was king, king, king. He was always told what he deserves but never told to work.

“I was convinced that I had a player that, if we worked on his mind, would win the Ballon d’Or. He was so talented. It’s a huge waste – maybe the biggest waste in football of the 21st century.

“There are plenty of players that were told early on that they would be pearls and still made it. Cristiano Ronaldo became a huge worker early on, Karim Benzema took exactly the same route. It takes work, talent is not enough.

“But his mentor, Michel Ouazine (advisor and representative) told him that talent was enough.”

It’s scary to think what Ben Arfa might have achieved if he was given the correct guidance. You only need to glance at his stunning goal vs Bolton to know what he was capable of.