Jean-Pierre Rivère tried to bring Hatem Ben Arfa back in January
OGC Nice explored a January 2026 return for Hatem Ben Arfa, but Claude Puel’s conditions blocked it after four years out of pro football.
Jean-Pierre Rivère, president of OGC Nice, tried to have Hatem Ben Arfa (39) join the club in January 2026, according to Nice-Matin. The playmaker had been without a team for four years, and Rivère had reconnected with him after bringing him to the club in 2015-16.
A plan that stalled
The talks didn’t move forward because of Claude Puel’s demands. Nice, meanwhile, reached the Coupe de France final, losing to Lens 3-1 on 22 May 2026. Rivère’s idea was to have Ben Arfa help during the season’s final stretch, in spells of roughly 20-40 minutes, for a near-zero salary due to the club’s austerity.
But Puel insisted on two conditions: either Ben Arfa got his fitness back in Paris first, or he joined the reserve team to rebuild match sharpness. In the end, Rivère reportedly accepted that it “wasn’t going to happen,” and the surprise return never materialized.
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