Former Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor has apologised to Arsenal defender Ben White after dubbing the £50million-man "very overrated" in the summer.
The ex-Brighton star had plenty of detractors when he first swapped the Amex for the Emirates, with fans and pundits alike questioning the price the Gunners forked out to sign him. Despite having a good debut season, White seems unable to attract the kind of plaudits some of his Arsenal teammates earn on a regular basis.
On the contrary, he came in for some serious criticism from Agbonlahor, who told Football Insider back in June: "Arsenal's defence is nowhere near good enough to get top-four. For me, Ben White is very overrated, I watched him against Newcastle towards the end of the season and he was absolutely dreadful.
"He lacks pace, he lacks aggression. Yes, he's good on the ball but he's not a defensive midfielder, he's a centre-half. Arsenal need two centre-halves who are no-nonsense and have both got speed. For me, Gabriel and [William] Saliba would be my starters next season.
"With Ben White, I think Brighton are laughing at getting the fee they got for him because he's not good enough. It's a shame that Arsenal have wasted a lot of money again."
The remarks seemed harsh at the time and four months later they read even worse, with White enjoying a stellar start to the season playing in a position that's not even his most natural one.
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The England international has been shifted to right-back to accommodate for Saliba's integration at centre-back, but White has arguably looked even more comfortable in the full-back role.
Having kept the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Heung-Min Son quiet, White has proven he is more than capable of dealing with the threat of some of the Premier League's most potent wide-players.
His fine form has even inspired a U-turn from his most vocal critic in Agbonlahor, who more recently claimed: "I want to apologise to Ben White. I have given him a bit of stick recently, in the past year, but he's been outstanding at right-back. Nothing gets past him and he's decent on the ball as well.
"He could be one of those players that you look at and say he's a right-back now. Going forward, he's a right-back who can fill in at centre-back."
His manager Mikel Arteta has talked up his international prospects after White was left out of the most recent England squad for games against Italy and Germany in the UEFA Nations League.
"Ben would be very comfortable playing on the right side of a back three as well as in the middle or as a full-back," the Gunners boss explained. "If you ask me if he is ready to make that step (to England), then the answer is yes because he is a very confident boy, he gives you absolutely everything, he is always available and he has the courage to play under real pressure."