Just 12 months ago, 
Back home, meanwhile, his reputation was little better. His spell with boyhood club Lyon ended with the attacker under something of a cloud, while Pardew only enhanced the player’s reputation as an enfant terrible.
Speaking after signing Emmanuel Adebayor for Crystal Palace, the Englishman commented: “I have had difficult players before, none more difficult than Hatem Ben Arfa at Newcastle. If I can deal with him, I can deal with Adebayor for sure...”
Nice, though, were sure they could harness the qualities of the Paris-born player and immediately made him feel welcome. Ben Arfa was committed to the club from the start, indicating before his failed move in January: “Even if Real Madrid had called at that moment, my mind was made up... There are people here who trust me, who do not judge me as some people want to judge me through the press.”
Indeed, the bond between player and coach has grown only stronger over the year. “My relationship with Claude Puel is like that of a father and son, in the sense that he wants to accompany me and wants me to progress,” Ben Arfa, who departed Lyon for Marseille in 2008 before Puel took charge days later, told beIN Sports
“And it works because his message seems to be getting through. I'm very happy to have met Claude Puel, he has helped my career get back on the right track so I'm really very happy and grateful.”
Over the course of his stay, he has gone from a player with a reputation for causing trouble in his own camp to one better known for destroying his opponents. Given the opportunity in the spotlight, he has excelled.
Puel immediately made the playmaker central to his system, presenting him the responsibility of running the offence from a No.10 role in a diamond midfield. It is a task that perfectly suits Ben Arfa’s personality, as he has been able to cast the entire attack in his image. Inventive shot passing has been a feature, but the trademark has been the slaloming runs, a handful of which have ended in brilliant goals.
Ben Arfa’s play has been inspired by Johan Cruyff, as he admitted after the passing of the great Dutchman earlier this year.
“When I learned of his death, it made me feel weird,” he confessed. “Suddenly it made me jump back in time 15 years, back when I was in front of my TV and I’d watch highlights of Cruyff. The video was in Dutch and I didn’t understand the commentary, but it didn’t manner.
“When I saw him the first time I immediately felt in awe of him. He was so elegant and intelligent. You could tell he was having fun – it was he who taught me how to be free on the pitch.”
Now kids are watching videos of Ben Arfa on YouTube and dreaming of replicating his greatest goals. Puel, who guided Lyon to a Champions League semi-final, is a particular fan and told BeIN Sports: “He’s the best player I’ve coached.
“Hatem has this incredible ability to dribble and show extraordinary flashes of brilliance that very few players have. Lionel Messi is one.”
This ability was only occasionally on show during his spell on Tyneside, but back in Ligue 1, such has been his consistency, he is now regarded as a genuine contender to be involved in Les Bleus’ Euro 2016 squad.
He played in the November internationals against Germany, which is now remembered for being the subject of a terrorist attack, and England, and though he missed the squad to play in March, he remains positive about his chances of making the final cut of 23 players.
“I’m ready to give everything for France,” he told L’Equipe 21. “I’d go and not play a single minute, to encourage the others and push them in training. I need to give something to my country, it would be a great accomplishment.”
These are hardly the words of a troublemaker that Ben Arfa is portrayed to be, and Deschamps believes his image has always been an unfair one.
“I never considered Hatem to be a ‘bad boy’,” the France boss said in November. “The media put lables on anything they want. I coached him at Marseille. Today he’s happy, he takes pleasure in the game and gives it back. He’s contagious.”
Deschamps is not the only one to have taken note. With Ben Arfa’s deal up at the end of the season, there has been talk of a return to England or even a move to PSG. The player has not committed to anything and may even choose to remain at Nice, where he feels a debt of gratitude.
Ligue 1, however, has certainly been all the richer for having its version of Messi back from his own personal hell, and a nomination as the division's outstanding player is the least this fine entertainer deserves....
- Goal