Newcastle United's out of favour France international says everything is on Tyneside and he is desperate to stay

Sun streams through the windows of the hotel on Newcastle's quayside but Hatem Ben Arfa's chair remains cast in shadow.

Down by the Tyne there is a holiday-like atmosphere as office workers seize a rare chance to eat their lunchtime sandwiches outside. Yet despite joking that it is almost as nice as a spring day in his beloved Tunisia a footballer once likened to Lionel Messi by Alan Pardew does not share the light-hearted mood.

Ben Arfa has arrived direct from training with Newcastle United's reserves, something the France international is becoming accustomed to. The previous night he had watched Pardew's side record their sixth straight defeat, a 3-0 surrender at Arsenal, on television.

"I was at home," said the former Marseille creator who makes it plain he is desperate to stay at St James' Park next season. "It was very difficult; we've lost 3-0 and 4-0 too many times. It hurts a lot because I want to help my team and I can't.

"I feel sad and frustrated but not angry. I think I could make a difference and I'd like to try. I think Pardew believes in me, but he doesn't show it. I don't know why. He needs to give me more confidence to build my best game because, at the moment, I don't have that."

Unfortunately Newcastle's manager clearly no longer trusts his most gifted individual and has restricted the 27-year-old largely to substitute duties this season. It appears Ben Arfa's game-changing brilliance is not enough to compensate for a perceived lack of enthusiasm for tracking back.

Those Newcastle fans who sing his name at every game disagree. "On the pitch I can offer my flair, my creativity offensively," he says. "I take initiative positively and I try every time to do something. I think I can give a lot for the club. I want to stay because the supporters have given me a lot of love and I want to give that love back."

There is a suspicion that Ben Arfa, whose parents migrated to Paris from Tunis, has become a scapegoat for a tailspin which has seen Newcastle lose 14 of their last 19 games and left Pardew's position under close scrutiny.

"It's not easy when you come on and we're 2-0 down and everybody wants you to do something great," he says. "The manager told me I had to score more and get more assists, I said 'OK, but I have to play'. It would be better if I started games."

Not that his bond with Pardew is totally severed. "There's not a problem with the manager, just after the game against Manchester United. We had a strong exchange of words, but that's it. I think the relationship's OK. I respect all his decisions."

It is said some senior players do not want Ben Arfa in the team. "I don't know," he says. "If you've heard that, maybe it's true but I have lots of friendships and good relationships with the others, with Loïc [Rémy], Moussa [Sissoko], Cheik [Tioté] and Vurnon [Anita]."

Newcastle's decline coincided with their former playmaker Yohan Cabaye's departure for Paris Saint-Germain for £20m in January. Many expected Ben Arfa to adopt Cabaye's old No10 role but Pardew prefers him deployed wide. "It was hard for everybody when Yohan left because he was very, very focused and very important in the dressing room and on the pitch," says a winger with one year left on his contract. "I'd play the No10 role but I'm happy on the right too.

"If the manager says he doesn't believe in me for next season I don't care. I want to stay because I'll show him I can play here but if the president wants to sell me I have to go."

More immediately, Ben Arfa would welcome increased tactical subtlety on Pardew's part and clearly believes Newcastle have become overly direct.

"I like playing football but it's the manager's decision," he says. "Sometimes he says to us play football and sometimes he says to kick it. Before Yohan left we were very good but afterwards we didn't play any more and it's hard to win that way.

"We need to play more, to build more. Even if you lose you have to try and play more and lose with pride. Now when we lose we don't go down fighting. That's the biggest problem."

In mitigation, Pardew's hands have been tied by a lack of investment in the past two transfer windows. "If we want to be in the top four we have to sign some good players," agrees Ben Arfa.

"I'm hurting because everything is here – the supporters are the best, along with Liverpool's. The stadium's amazing, the city's good, everybody loves football, there's passion, everything is here."

He is said to be Mike Ashley's favourite player. "I like the owner and I want to stay," he says. "My dream is to get into the Champions League next season with Newcastle or win a cup. We'll see."