Hatem Ben Arfa kan - enligt sin agent Simon Stainrod - vara tillbaka i träning så tidigt som första veckan i februari. Rykten har cirkulerat om att det franska lånet från Marseille skulle vara tillbaka tidigare än de ursprungliga prognoserna, något som nu späs på av agentens kommentarer. Han ska även vara villig att spela vidare för Newcastle trots Chris Hughtons avsked.
Det är lokala The Journal som idag publicerar en intervju med Ben Arfas agent, som med hänvisning till Newcastles klubbläkare berättar att Hatem kan återfinnas i svartvitt redan i februari. Förra veckan hade Newcastle läkare på plats i södra Frankrike där Hatem rehabstränar, och de ska enligt Stainrod vara väldigt imponerade och positivt överraskade över de framsteg som Ben Arfa gör.
Angående det pågående tumultet i klubben så avfärdade Stainrod att Hughtons sorti skulle ha för stor innebörd.
“Hatem is doing really, really well” .
“He’s working really hard and he’s in a centre where they are working intensively from Monday to Friday on the injury and it is definitely helping him to make plenty of progress.
“I think from the original prognosis, it’s going to be much, much better than that. You can never tell 100% but hopefully he’s going to be back in the first week of February, which is just fantastic. It could be later, it could be earlier but that’s better than anyone thought.
“The club doctor came from Newcastle to see him last week and he was really delighted with Hatem’s progress. He’s working hard and there are a group of specialists working with him – he’s really in the best place.
“He’s working on his strength and that is the next step, but he’s dedicated and he’s absolutely determined to get back in a Newcastle shirt and repay the supporters for their support through all of this.”
“Hatem was a little bit upset by what happened with Chris but while it sounds harsh, football is football and his responsibility is with Newcastle United,” Stainrod said. “You have to be professional and he can’t wait to start working with Alan. He’s got a good reputation as a coach and even though he’s someone different, you get used to that in football.”
Noa BachnerTwitter: @noabachner2010-12-21 10:44:22
