It’s a very strange situation that Ben White has with England. For a year, the Arsenal defender seems to have a special story with the English selection. During the World Cup, when he was summoned, he finally decided to leave the gathering in the middle of the competition for personal reasons. Since then, he has not been called up even though he has established himself as a permanent fixture for the Gunners.
So we expected to see him called up this Thursday by Gareth Southgate for the upcoming Three Lions matches. It is not so. And the English coach confirmed that it was indeed the 26-year-old defender who refused to come despite his coach’s desire to call him. “We received a call from Arsenal last week to say that Ben White did not want to be considered for England teams. He didn’t want to be selected and it’s a real shame, he’s a player that I really like. I took him to the Euros and the World Cup. I spoke to him after Qatar, I was keen to choose him… there was clearly some reluctance on his part”
