Hatem Ben Arfa has not played at the highest level since 2022 after leaving Lille. At the age of 36, the former French international has not yet officially announced he is retiring. However, Ben Arfa has left football to focus on his new passion – cage tennis, also known as padel tennis.

Ben Arfa has switched to practicing this sport every day and competes continuously in large and small padel tournaments. According to Padel magazine published in November 2023, the former Newcastle and PSG player is currently ranked 1,342 out of 42,000 professional tennis players.

In other words, the former PSG and Newcastle player is among the 1,500 best padel players in the world. To be able to rise to this high rank, Ben Arfa must participate in more than 70 tournaments and practice hard 4-5 days per week.

The former Lyon player has two “hard friends” to practice padel with: Christophe Jallet, his former teammate in the French national team, and famous host Cyril Hanouna.

Hatem Ben Arfa grew up from Lyon, the same age as Karim Benzema. In the early years of his career, Ben Arfa with his superior left hand was even more highly rated than Benzema. Even Ben Arfa is likened to “French Messi”.

However, his unprofessional lifestyle and stubborn personality made Ben Arfa’s career encounter many difficulties. The player born in 1987 has played for many big clubs such as Marseille, Newcastle and PSG but did not make much of an impression.

In total, Ben Arfa has won 5 Ligue 1 championships, including Lyon (4) and Marseille (1). The former Lille player played for the French national team from 2007 to 2015, appearing 15 times and scoring 2 goals.