Hatem Ben Arfa looks set to end almost two years in the international wilderness by playing in France's Euro 2012 warm-up game against Iceland on Sunday and show his bad boy image is a thing of the past.

The 25-year-old -- who scored on his last appearance for the French against Norway in what was Laurent Blanc's first game in charge in August 2010 -- has earned a reputation for being tricky and difficult and saw him leave both Lyon and Marseille under a cloud.

However, a stunning season for Newcastle, including some wonderful goals, has earned him a recall to the squad and a good performance against Iceland should seal his place in Blanc's final squad.

Ben Arfa returned to France's national football centre in Clairefontaine with a renewed sense of purpose and an urge to shed the label of being a troublemaker.

"I am really eager to prove myself," said Ben Arfa, who won four league titles with the outstanding Lyon side from 2005-08 and then another with Marseille in 2010.

"I have earned myself a certain reputation. It was very, very difficult to return. There is only me and those around me who know how difficult it was."

Blanc for one is satisfied that Ben Arfa has turned the page.

"I believe that he has reached a new level, both as a player and as a person," said Blanc.

"He is more mature, he is conscious of his talent but that he has to transfer it into benefiting his team and not just for himself. These players (like Ben Arfa) who are extremely talented find it hard to think that they are so good.

"I think that they are in the process of getting to grips with it. When they work both for their team and when they express themselves in attack they often make a difference."

Ben Arfa, capped eight times, has shown great determination to rebound from an horrific double-fracture to his left leg in October 2010 and revealed how at that low moment his desire to return to the international stage was revived.

"When I was treated here at Clairefontaine (for his injury), I already had this objective, to emerge from that and regain my international spot.

"It hasn't yet been reached, but I'm happy, it's already huge. When everyone began to talk about the selection around me, then it really sank in."

Ben Arfa's irresistible club form helped the Magpies mount a serious challenge for Champions League qualification and led Newcastle boss Alan Pardew to compare him to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

The attacking midfielder has rediscovered his ability to tear apart an opposition defence, the quality that made him such a force in the first place.

Having made a compelling case for his inclusion, barring a huge surprise or injury setback, there appears little standing between the prodigiously talented Ben Arfa and him making his first appearance at the finals of a major tournament.

A member of the famous French group of players born in 1987 (along with Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Jeremy Menez) that were under-17 European champions in 2004, Ben Arfa has clashed with several of his coaches and had stormy relationships with teammates, starting with Benzema from their days at Lyon.

However, Blanc is keen for Ben Arfa to dispel the notion that he is a malcontent and support his belief he can blend into a team environment.

"He has taken more maturity as a man," said Blanc. "It's the big change. If he's included in the squad at Newcastle, I don't see why it couldn't happen in the French team.

"He has had his difficulties with coaches but I've read and heard that he has matured, reflected. It's up to him to show us that he's not difficult for a group. If not, then it's he who won't have understood the message."