Gareth Southgate breaks silence on Ben White saga amid 'real reason' for England snub

Gareth Southgate has addressed the ongoing Ben White saga with an admission about the Arsenal defender's chances of going to Euro 2024.

White made himself unavailable for selection for the current international break, with Gunners sporting director Edu calling Southgate personally to deliver the news.

The centre-back hasn't featured in an England squad since the World Cup, when he left the camp midway through the tournament due to 'personal reasons'.

Although Southgate did not go into explicit detail on that incident when naming his squad, he did claim that there were no issues between White and England assistant Steve Holland.

The Telegraph subsequently reported that Holland directed a remark towards White about the defender being 'not sufficiently interested in football' during a meeting with other senior players.

The report claimed that the exchange was behind the player's decision to leave the Qatar training base - and is allegedly the reason why he has not been available for selection since. The pair did not have a 'row', the report adds, although the problem appeared to be a 'question of the respect accorded to the player'.

Both White's representatives and the FA have declined to comment on the situation, while Southgate hadn't expressed his view since his initial press conference two weeks ago.

His Arsenal team-mate Declan Rice and Manchester United defender Harry Maguire have given their opinions, meanwhile.

Southgate has now commented - and has sent the Arsenal star, who recently signed a new long-term contract until 2028, an ultimatum ahead of Euro 2024.

He said: "It's really for Ben now. Dec [Rice] is obviously in a difficult situation, you're asking him about a team-mate and he's going to be careful what he says.

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"As I've said to you, the door is open for us.

"That's clearly difficult ahead of the Euros, where you've got players that have played all the way through, but we have no idea of knowing who's going to be available in that area of the pitch.

"I respected the situation as Arsenal have contacted us. So in the end, I know the conversation I had with him last March. I felt I should back away from it a little bit."

He went on to stress: "But I've always left the door open. I was keen to bring him in this camp."