The agent of Hatem Ben Arfa has said the winger may quit football after being refused the right to play for new club Nice by the French Football League.
The 27-year-old moved to the Ligue 1 club in January after leaving Newcastle United by mutual consent.
However, the rules state that one player cannot play for three clubs in one season, seeing Ben Arfa’s loan move to Hull City earlier in the season cause problems.
And, now his agent, Jean-Jacques Bertrand has said the former French international is considering retirement.
“He can’t not play competitively for seven months. That’s completely out of the question, unless he stops playing altogether,” Bertrand told ESPN. “That’s not out of the question for the moment, because he is quite distressed by what he considers to be persecution.
“Players can sometimes be a bit paranoid, people say, but he gets the feeling that people don’t want to see him. In England, it’s difficult. Here, he’s done nothing wrong, and they don’t want him to play. There comes a time when he has to ask himself the question.”