Wednesday 11 November 2015 06:16, UK
Hatem Ben Arfa says he is "back from hell" at Nice and has branded his final days at Newcastle "a terrible humiliation."
The 28-year-old, who was released by the Magpies in January after falling out of favour at St James' Park, has scored seven times in 13 appearances for the Ligue 1 side this season and earned himself a France recall.
Before he sealed a switch back to France, Ben Arfa trained with Peter Beardsley's reserve team on Tyneside before heading out on loan to Hull City - a spell that lasted only six months.
Newcastle paid off the midfielder's contract in January - but he was unable to represent Nice until August due to FIFA regulations.
Lifting the lid on a "nightmare" few months, he told France Football: "It was a very, very difficult period. The worst of my career. It was as if my hell began at Newcastle.
"There, on the first day back in August 2014, I was placed directly with the reserves. A terrible humiliation. Weeks passed and I was always with these young 16 and 17-year-olds on land away from those pros.
"I did not understand. They gave me a nightmare. It was full of little cheap shots. And when I believed in me [getting out] by signing for Nice, they were forbidden to hire me [until July]."
Describing his six-month exile from playing duties before being allowed to represent Nice this season, Ben Arfa, who scored 14 goals in 86 appearances for Newcastle, said: "I had the feeling of being locked in a dark room without a door, or in an endless tunnel.
"I saw hell and especially no solution to my problems. At that time, I was wrong, I did not see any light. I was a prisoner.
"I was slapping myself every day to not let go.
"I tried to convince myself that the light was coming back, I was going to find the right path.
"By signing this summer with Nice, I really felt out of hell. In fact, that's it, I come back from hell. "
