PARIS — Hatem Ben Arfa is due in Istanbul later this week to hold talks with Fenerbahce and possibly undergo a medical, a source close to the Turkish giants told ESPN FC, but a source close Paris Saint-Germain says the player is not keen on the move.
The 30-year-old France international has been told he has no future at Parc des Princes after failing to impress coach Unai Emery.
Ben Arfa failed to score a single Ligue 1 goal in his sole season with the club and only contributed one assist in 23 Championnat outings.
According to both sources, the former Nice, Marseille and Lyon man was expected in the Turkish capital in the coming days to put the finishing touches to his move.
The Turkish source indicated Fenerbahce are about to make space in their squad for Ben Arfa after recently agreeing to sell defender Simon Kjaer to Sevilla and that the PSG man was expected to sign a three-year deal.
However, the French source said that although PSG could have earned as much as €7 million if certain clauses were activated and that Ben Arfa was set to earn in the region of €5m per year, the player is not interested in moving to Turkey at this moment.
Fenerbahce have done plenty of shopping in France over the past 12 months after signing Gregory van der Wiel on a free transfer from PSG last summer and Mathieu Valbuena from Lyon this summer.
Ben Arfa was one of three high-profile players left out of PSG’s squad for their recent International Champions Cup campaign in the United States, along with Serge Aurier and Grzegorz Krychowiak.
All three were told that they are free to leave this summer and more are expected to be shown the door as sporting director Antero Henrique makes space for the arrival of Neymar from Neymar.
The French source indicated that Ben Arfa still wants to try to force his way into Emery’s plans and that another solution will have to be reached if PSG want him off their books this summer.
Jonathan Johnson covers PSG and the French national team for ESPN FC. Twitter: @Jon_LeGossip.