Hatem Ben Arfa is contemplating his future at Rennes after revealing he takes “no pleasure” in playing the club’s style of football.
The winger helped Rennes lift the Coupe de France earlier in May after beating Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain on penalties in the final, and has also scored seven goals and provided two assists in the league.
But, despite their cup success and reaching the last 16 of the Europa League, Rennes have been inconsistent in the league and sit 12th in the table, 42 points behind PSG.
Ben Arfa, who joined Rennes as a free agent in September after his previous club PSG did not extend his contract, is unhappy with the type of football his team play and is unsure about his future.
Speaking after his team’s 1-1 draw with Guingamp on Sunday, Ben Arfa told L’Equipe : “Guingamp deserved to win. In the game, they were much more ambitious than us. These last games have given me the opportunity to know better what I am going to do next season. I am oriented by the game.
“I do not take pleasure and we need to be guided by this. What we are offering is limited, so it guides my choice.
“The whistles from the fans? After what we’ve done this season, I can only say thanks to them. The group has shown a lot of things this year, it had been 48 years since they had won a Cup I think, they had never experienced a European adventure like this, I can only say thank you. In the end, when you get whistled at (when he was replaced by Jeremy Gelin in the 81st minute), it also plays a part.”
Ben Arfa is out of contract at the end of June, and is weighing up whether to stay on, adding: “When you take a decision, you need to take the context into account. There are many things that are going to make me see what I am going to do next season.”
If Rennes and Ben Arfa decide not to extend his contract, it will be the third time the player has been made a free agent in five years.
In 2016, the former Newcastle attacker made headlines after the then-PSG coach, Unai Emery, forced him to train with the reserve side for displaying “a poor work ethic”, and the club refused to pay the €6 million (£5.2m/$6.7m) needed to release the player from his contract “out of principle”.
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