Football
Jonathan Johnson, PSG correspondent 7y

Ben Arfa is 'better' than Di Maria, Pastore and Lucas Moura - Pancrate

Former Paris Saint-Germain player Fabrice Pancrate has claimed Hatem Ben Arfa is a better player than teammates Angel Di Maria, Javier Pastore and Lucas Moura.

France international Ben Arfa missed the 3-1 Champions League win away at Ludogorets on Wednesday through injury after being dropped by coach Unai Emery for the four matches before that because of a lack of fitness.

But Pancrate, 36 -- who played for PSG between 2004 and 2009 -- insisted that the Ben Arfa controversy in the press was "a lot of fuss for nothing."

"I think the two men [Ben Arfa and Emery] discussed things privately and there are things we do not know," Pancrate told Yahoo Sport France. "Ben Arfa is a player blessed with tremendous talent. Intrinsically, he is better than Di Maria, Pastore and Lucas.

"Right now he is a little overweight, but he is aware of that. I could be wrong, but I think an agreement was reached with the coach."

Pancrate also looked at PSG's transfer movements this summer and branded the capital club's business as "more Europa League than Champions League."

"They have picked up some very good players but not of the same calibre as those who came before," Pancrate said.

"The new signings are good. However, the recruitment was in the image of the new coach. The transfer dealings were more Europa League than Champions League, as it was before with the likes of Zlatan [Ibrahimovic], Thiago Silva and Thiago Motta."

When playing for PSG during his five-year spell in the French capital, Pancrate experienced the atmosphere created by the club's "ultras" at Parc des Princes and the former Newcastle United man admitted that "the boiling atmosphere of old" is missed.

"We want to see Parc des Princes as it was back in the day," Pancrate said. "It is up to them [the ultras] to make the most of this chance they have been given, to act responsibly and to keep their place at the stadium."

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