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Saturday, 16 March 2013

Ben Arfa Out For The Season

Newcastle midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has been ruled out for the rest of the season as he requires surgery on a hamstring problem.

The Frenchman only returned during the sides Europa League last 16 clash with Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala after a 12 week absence. Ben Arfa was only on the pitch for 64 minutes however and was forced to miss the second leg at St James' Park where a late goal from Cisse put the side through to the next round.


Ben Arfa is not expected back until pre-season training for the 2013/14 campaign, with Newcastle manager Alan Pardew confirming he will not be rushed back sooner, even if they qualify for the Europa League final.
"It's a shame for Hatem because we went down this process of not operating on it, and I think now that's an option that we might need to take," said Pardew.
"But we can't now put him at risk. Even if it was to get to a Europa League final, I don't think that's going to be the case.
"We need to look to next year for him and just go forward together knowing we haven't got him on board."

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