Frenchman has been in the north east since 2010.
Mega-rich Ligue 1 new boys AS Monaco are targeting a summer swoop for mercurial Newcastle United midfield player Hatem Ben Arfa, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.
The France international has just enjoyed yet another frustrating campaign at St James’ Park, with the 26-year-old being forced to miss large chunks of the season with a number of niggling hamstring problems.
However, that has not reportedly deterred the big-spending South of France outfit from making a £10m move for the skilful playmaker when the transfer window swings opens once again on 1 July.
Ben Arfa has a contract in the north east that runs until the end of June 2016 but Monaco are said to be confident of being able to persuade the Magpies to let the player depart the club this summer, especially given his woeful injury record since arriving at Newcastle from Marseille three years ago.
Since then, Ben Arfa has appeared in just 49 top-flight matches and 56 fixtures in all competitions for Alan Pardew’s side.
Monaco have already added £60m Porto duo James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho to their squad this summer and are favourites to land £51m Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao.
The newly promoted Ligue 1 outfit are bankrolled by Russian billionaire owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.
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