Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has told Gareth Southgate that Ben White will be ready for this year's World Cup if called upon.
White, 24, was surprisingly left out of Southgate's squad for this month's Nations League fixtures against Italy and Germany, which are the final internationals before the England manager must decide his 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar this autumn.
White was expected to be selected due to his consistent form at club level. The four-cap international, who was part of the squad for Euro 2020, has played well at both centre-back and full-back since he joined Arsenal in a £50million deal from Brighton in July 2021.
In fact, White has impressed throughout his club career - whether that be in League Two with Newport County, League One with Peterborough, the Championship with Leeds or the Premier League with Brighton. The defender won the Player of the Year award at Newport County and Brighton, as well as the Young Player of the Season prize at Leeds.
But Southgate did not select White in his latest squad, as the likes of Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Marc Guehi, John Stones, Fikayo Tomori and Harry Maguire were picked ahead of him. Although Arteta refused to criticise Southgate's decision, he did highlight White's qualities and assured the England manager the defender would be ready if selected.
"That’s Gareth’s decision," said Arteta on Friday. "And whenever Ben gets the call, he will be ready. He can play in both positions [full-back and centre-back] and to have versatile players who can play them to the level Ben can is something any manager would want."
Do you think Ben White should be in the England squad? Let us know in the comments below!
Arteta went on to say: "Gareth picks the best squad he believes in for now but that does not mean it will be the case in November. The squad England have available is incredible. We will do everything we can to help Ben and I’m sure he will continue to give lots of reasons to have a chance for selection."
White's performances this season have helped Arsenal win five of their six Premier League fixtures to go top of the table. The versatile Englishman has started every game at right-back this term, despite being a centre-back by trade.
Ex-Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell is among those who believe White should be in the England squad. "I think he has [shown enough to be in the squad]," Campbell told talkSPORT.
"He’s played out of position for Arsenal this season and he’s been outstanding at right-back. You know what he can do at centre-back and right-back now.
"When you’re top of the league and you’re doing well and you don’t get in the England squad, then you’re going to question. There’s players there who aren’t playing for their clubs, who have got in because they’ve had tournament football under the manager.
"But if they’re not playing for their club and you know what they can do, why are you picking them? Why not give the opportunity to somebody who you can have a look at, give them some game time."
