Hatem Ben Arfa has reportedly ‘politely’ rejected the chance to sign for Bordeaux, which could be bad news for Arsenal in their pursuit of Malcom.

Ben Arfa, who is currently a Paris Saint-Germain player but hasn’t made a Ligue 1 appearance since last March, has reportedly turned down the chance to sign for Bordeaux after speaking to manager Jocelyn Gourvennec on the phone.

The 30-year-old signed for PSG from Nice in 2016 and is yet to make any sort of impact on the team. In fact, he’s only made 26 league appearances since he joined. Still, the winger has apparently turned down the chance to potentially play consistent football at a fellow French side.

Bordeaux could be selling Malcom this month and therefore are trying to bring in the forward’s replacement. In theory, this would mean regular games for Ben Arfa.

Granit Xhaka v PSG
Arsenal’s Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka (L) tackles Paris Saint-Germain’s French forward Hatem Ben Arfa (R) during the UEFA Champions League group A football match between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain at the Emirates Stadium in London on November 23, 2016. / AFP / Justin TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

The situation at Bordeaux is allegedly growing increasingly unstable, so perhaps this is why the ex-Newcastle star is uneasy about agreeing to the move. However, you would think he could push that aside in the interest of actually getting to play football every week.

Apparently not…

Arsenal, and now Liverpool, have been heavily linked with Malcom for the last week, and although the Ligue 1 club don’t seem overly keen to sell their key player in January, it does look as if they’re hunting for a potential replacement at the very least.