'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 22: Newcastle player Hatem Ben Arfa in action during the UEFA Europa League Group match between Newcastle United FC and CS Maritimo at St James
Just as Newcastle’s season was beginning to kick-off after entering the last eight of the the Europa League, the Magpies received a jolt from the blue, as their enigmatic Frenchman Hatem Ben Arfa was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew broke the news in a recent statement when he said: “On Hatem, the news is not so good. Looking at him, I think he’s going to need an operation on his hamstring and it’ll probably leave him missing for the rest of the year.”
Ben Arfa sustained the injury in a Europa League group stage game against Maritimo. Despite attempting two comebacks, first against Fulham in December and then again in the first week of March against Anzhi Makhachkala, the problem refused to go away and the medics have decided that surgery is the best way to go forward for the Frenchman.
As Pardew stated himself, Newcastle will miss his “x-factor” going in to the final stretch of the campaign. With the games coming in thick and fast for Newcastle and the likes of Mathieu Debuchy and Yoan Gouffran ineligible for the Europa League, it restricts Alan Pardew from adding another dimension to his side.
