Mikel Arteta believes Ben White still has time to earn a place in England’s World Cup squad and says Arsenal will give the defender enough opportunities to prove his worth ahead of the tournament.
White has not played for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup early, officially for “personal reasons.” Reports later suggested a disagreement with then manager Gareth Southgate and assistant Steve Holland, although Southgate always denied any consequences.
Following England’s run to the Euro 2024 final, Thomas Tuchel replaced Southgate and has revitalized the national team, winning all six World Cup qualifying matches so far, scoring 18 goals and conceding none.
Tuchel has already held positive talks with White about his return, but the 28-year-old is yet to be selected in any of his teams this year.
White’s lack of recent involvement is partly due to injury issues, limiting him to just four appearances this season, with Jurrien Timber currently preferred at right-back.
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s Carabao Cup match against Brighton, Arteta said: “There are still many months left and in football everything can change one way or another and if Ben wants to do that, if Thomas thinks he’s the right player to do it, I’m very happy for him.
“I am sure that he will have many minutes here, many opportunities and obviously his record speaks for himself in the best possible way to give him the opportunity to be there.
“He had a setback and that didn’t help, but I think in preseason he was probably our best player.
“I think he played every game and was in great form, and we needed him because when Ben is at the level he can show, he is a top player for us, a player who drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well, and we needed him at his best.”
Arteta confirmed that William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli remain out through injury, while Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Bukayo Saka are fit and available.
