Arsenal defender Ben White was a late change for England’s starting lineup as they face Switzerland in an international friendly with Switzerland on Saturday evening. The 24-year-old was originally on the bench for the game, but an injury sustained by John Stones meant that White was called upon as his replacement.
The match will be the centre-back’s third appearance for the Three Lions, having made two friendly appearances before last summer’s European Championships. He made his debut from the bench against Austria in a 1-0 win before playing all ninety against Romania in another 1-0 victory.
Though he didn’t make the final squad for England, who went on to reach the final against Italy in the Euros, White will be hoping to make the side that travels to Qatar for the World Cup later this year. While his club form does some of the talking, performing under Gareth Southgate could help his case even more.
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If there needs to be any convincing of his club form, it doesn’t take long to see why he received a call-up. Since making his £50million switch from Brighton, the Arsenal centre-back has kept the most clean sheets of any English defender in the Premier League.
His form has helped the Gunners reach fourth place in the league, searching for the final Champions League spot. White was released from Southampton as a teenager before eventually joining Brighton but it was a loan spell at Newport County in League Two where he witnessed a different side of professional football. When speaking about his time with the Welsh side, he added: "It was one of the best years of my life.
"I’d gone from playing in an academy where everything is nice and you have everything you want. Then you go there and everything is completely different.
"You’re having a curry for your pre-match meal. In my first game there was a punch-up at half-time, between our own players in our own dressing room.
"It was a bit scary to be fair. I didn’t want to make any mistakes, that's for sure. When you go and play in those leagues, you see what you should be doing and probably stuff you shouldn’t be doing to get to the next level."
White will be hoping to carry his club form into the internationals, with a potential place on the plane to Qatar 2022 up for grabs.
