Thomas Tuchel has confirmed Arsenal defender Ben White wants to return to the England set-up.
Tuchel has held talks with White over the prospect of making an England comeback, with the defender not having represented the Three Lions since leaving their camp for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar early.
Former manager Gareth Southgate revealed White had made himself unavailable for England selection but the 27-year-old’s self-imposed exile appears to be coming to an end.
White was not named in Tuchel’s first squad as England manager for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley this month, though the German has confirmed that is purely down to the fact the defender is only recently returning from injury.
The Arsenal star underwent knee surgery back in November and only started his first game since that same month when the Gunners drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven in the second-leg of their Champions League last-16 clash to progress into the quarter-finals 9-3 on aggregate.
Reece James, Tino Livramento and Kyle Walker offer stern competition at right-back, though White’s versatility also means he’s capable of playing in central defence.
Asked if White had rejected a call-up, Tuchel said: “Absolutely not, he loves to be back in the squad, I just think it's a bit too early now for him given the seriousness of the injury that he had.
“I'm delighted that he's back, back now in back-to-back trainings. We were monitoring the process with huge compliments to the medical and performance department of the FA and thanks to everyone at Arsenal to let us monitor closely.
“So we were on it, speaking to Ben, we're delighted he's back on the bench [for Arsenal]. He had a Champions League match in the second leg and now it's just a question about getting more minutes and rhythm and he has every chance to be back. And he wants to be back."
