Ben Arfa deal is a real coup for Newcastle

By Lee Ryder on Jan 5, 11 02:28 PM

Alan Pardew said from day one he wanted to lay down the foundations at St James' Park before sprinkling his own personal touch to the Newcastle United team.

The arrival of Hatem Ben Arfa on a permanent deal is evidence of laying down the foundations.

The Frenchman's move comes hot on the heels of Steven Taylor nailing his colours to the black and white mast after months of uncertainty.

I think most Toon fans still need a lot of convincing to feel that the Magpies are "going places" at the moment but in Ben Arfa, Andy Carroll, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote and Fabricio Coloccini, there seems to be strong foundations to build on.

You won't find many who wanted to see Pardew as boss after Chris Hughton was shown the door at St James' Park.

But in the last month, two things have became obvious about Pardew.

One, that he wants to play attack minded football which certainly ticks one of the boxes on Tyneside.

And two, that he appears to be ambitious in the transfer market and is prepared to reach for the stars when asking Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias exactly what he wants.

If Ben Arfa can pick up where he left off before his double leg break, we have a world class player on our hands.

And if Pardew can build a team around young stars like Ben Arfa and Carroll, it can't be a bad thing.

Make no mistake, Pardew has a big job ahead of him and nobody seems to be getting carried away.

Yet if there is anything to hang your hat on at the moment it appears to be his vision.

Already he has hinted strongly there will be an "offensive" player coming into the ranks in the next month.

And coming from a bloke who has the vision to sign Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano at West Ham, considering the level the pair are at right now, it has to be a good thing.

So far we've seen a return of six points from 12 against Liverpool, Man City, Spurs and Wigan.

In the current climate, that's respectable, but the work is only just starting.

Nevertheless, bringing in Hatem Ben Arfa today in a permanent switch is a major, major plus.

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