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Topics: Football, Ben White, England, Arsenal, Gareth Southgate
Nasir Jabbar
Topics: Football, Ben White, England, Arsenal, Gareth Southgate
A revealing report has detailed how Gareth Southgate found out Ben White no longer wants to be selected for England.
In his press conference, Southgate said White asked not to be considered for the England squad ahead of this month's friendly games against Brazil and Belgium.
Arsenal posted a video of their star defender just hours before Southgate's shock revelation.
But the Three Lions boss was not directly told about White's international snub.
According to The Athletic, he heard 'second-hand' that the 26-year-old had no desire to be called up.
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Arsenal's sporting director Edu informed John McDermott of White's decision.
"Clearly on form I can’t sit here and say he doesn’t deserve to be in," explained Southgate.
"We, John McDermott and I, had a call from Edu last week (and he) said Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time."
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The 53-year-old added: “For me that is a great shame. He is a player we took to the Euros, a player we took to the World Cup and I spoke to him post-Qatar because I wanted to pick him.
"He is not available to us and there is no issue between us at all and I also should say there is never any issue with (coach) Steve Holland because that has been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that.
"I want that door wide open. He would be in this squad but he’s not available to us and I have to focus on who can help us."
White has four senior England appearances to his name after making his debut in June 2021.
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He was named in England's 26-man squad for the 2022 World Cup but withdrew for personal reasons.
And he has effectively ruled himself out of this summer's Euro 2024.
This season, White has played 39 games across all competitions for Arsenal.