Ben Arfa on the Brink of Improbable Nice Return at Nearly 40, Puel Puts an End to It

Hatem Ben Arfa came close to pulling off one of the most improbable comebacks in Ligue 1 history: at nearly 40 years old, after three years of inactivity, the former winger was approached by OGC Nice during the January 2025 transfer window, before the project fell through.

It was Jean-Pierre Rivère, who returned to the club’s presidency in December 2025 amid a sporting and financial crisis, who revived the lead. The executive immediately thought of the player he had helped bring to prominence in a Nice shirt a decade earlier. During the 2015-2016 season, Ben Arfa had signed the most accomplished campaign of his career under Claude Puel’s orders: 17 goals and 6 assists, a performance that had illuminated Ligue 1.

Rivère’s idea was bold: get the striker back in shape to make him a luxury option late in the season, with a symbolic salary adapted to the club’s budget constraints. Nice’s impressive run in the Coupe de France was meant to provide an ideal setting for one last hurrah. Ben Arfa, who has never officially announced his retirement and has since made a name for himself on the padel courts, was seduced by the proposal.

But the project ran into Claude Puel, who had also returned to the Nice bench. Keen not to fuel false hopes among supporters and to preserve dressing-room harmony, the coach laid down his conditions: Ben Arfa would either have to prepare physically for his return in Paris before joining the squad, or go through the reserves to regain match fitness.

Rivère quickly concluded that the player would not accept stepping back for several months after four years of inactivity. The lead was abandoned. Ben Arfa’s second chapter at Nice will not happen.