Arsenal made revealing Ben White 'statement' hours before shock England snub

Arsenal posted an unusual video about Ben White just hours before Gareth Southgate made a shock announcement about his England career.

On Thursday Southgate announced his England squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium Wembley.

Arsenal defender Ben White was not named in the squad, Southgate's final selection before he names the players that will travel to Germany for Euro 2024 this summer.

While White's exclusion did not come as a huge surprise, Southgate's revelation that the 26-year-old has asked not to be considered for future squads did.

"We had a call from Edu [Arsenal sporting director] last week to say that Ben didn't want to be considered for England squads at this time," said Southgate.

"That's a great shame. I don't know fully why it is. But I want to leave the door open to him."

White was named in England's 2022 World Cup squad, but left the tournament for personal reasons.

Southgate added that White does not have an issue with assistant coach Steve Holland.

Hours before Southgate made his announcement, Arsenal confirmed that White has signed a new four-year contract with the club.

As part of the announcement, Arsenal published an unusual video of several of White's club mates talking about White's qualities as a person and a player, with the caption: "Benjamin White, as told by his team-mates."

Benjamin White, as told by his team-mates ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2O3pcUJu70

— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 14, 2024

Over a series of one-on-one interviews, Arsenal stars including Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard, Jorginho and Aaron Ramsdale were asked "who is Ben White."

Rice admits that he "he can't really explain him," while Jorginho says that "it takes a while to [get to] know him."

Odegaard says: "When you look at him from the outside you might think he's someone who doesn't celebrate and he's not happy, doesn't care too much.

"[but] he's one of the guys who cares the most about the team and his teammates."

Gabriel Martinelli adds: "Every team would love to have a Ben White in the team."

White has four international caps to his name after making his England debut back in 2021.

He joined Arsenal in a £50 million move from Brighton in 2021.