‘Mysterious’ defender a star for club but rules himself out of country
Ben White has been a key player for Arsenal ever since joining from Brighton for £50m in 2021, featuring in 97 of the club’s 104 Premier League games since the start of 2021-22, and starting in 93 of them.
Initially used as a centreback in a back four in his debut campaign, White has subsequently been deployed on the right for the past two seasons to accommodate William Saliba, a switch that has coincided with Arsenal emerging as credible title challengers.
White’s form in an Arsenal shirt has been consistently solid – he hasn’t made a single defensive error leading to a goal in almost three league seasons with the club – but his performances have been particularly eye-catching in 2024.
For much of the past two campaigns, White has generally looked like a defensive option when used on the right, required to play narrow as an inverted full-back and add an extra layer of protection to the defence or else shuffle into midfield to give Arsenal numerical supremacy in that area. He has tended to hold his position to allow Bukayo Saka to roam from his.
However, recently he has been making more overlapping runs, evolving into a more rounded full-back who can attack as well as defend. White has registered a goal and three assists in his last five Premier League games, numbers you’d associate more with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kieran Trippier.
He set up both of Arsenal’s goals during their last league win against Brentford with two different types of crosses: the first was whipped into a good area and required a glancing touch from Declan Rice to go in and the second was dinked up smartly for Kai Havertz to go and attack. That variety is evidence of his growing influence and confidence in the final third.
A few hours before Southgate’s squad announcement, Arsenal confirmed that White had signed a new contract which will run
until the end of the 2027-28 season with the option of an extra year. Unusually, they prefaced the news with a video on social media in which Arsenal’s players were asked to sum him up on and off the pitch.
Multiple colleagues described him as a “warrior”, praised him for being “calm” and “composed” and made a point of highlighting his teamwork and will to win. Perhaps the most instructive comment came from Fabio Vieira, who said: “He’s a bit mysterious”.
There is a perception that White doesn’t care about football as much as other players and is an awkward character. His frank admission that he didn’t enjoy watching the game when he was growing up and still doesn’t now has contributed towards that as has speculation around the reasons why he departed the World Cup prematurely.
That seems unfounded when hearing how his teammates talk about him. Maybe he has just found a sense of serenity and contentedness at his club that he has yet to with his national team.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” said White of Arsenal. For the time being at least, that includes the England squad.