Mikel Arteta has commented on the potential repercussions that Ben White could face in the remainder of his England career.
The 25-year-old was included in Gareth Southgate's squad for the World Cup in Qatar, but was forced to leave at the end of the group stages due to what the FA described as 'personal circumstances' in a statement. However, stories have since emerged suggesting that White in fact left Qatar due to falling out with England assistant coach Steve Holland.
The defender is now back with Arsenal for whom he has played in their last three friendlies against AC Milan, Juventus and Luton. Questions remain though as to whether he will be given another chance in an England shirt, and Arteta has now had his say on the matter.
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“That is something personal that is down to Ben," the Spaniard said when asked if there would be any lingering implications for White. "We have done everything that we could to support him to again give him an environment that he is comfortable in. He has been exceptional with us and that is what we expect for him."
Despite the stories questioning White's character, Arteta has continued to defend his £50 million signing. "We can’t control that," he said when asked by football.london about the stories questioning his reasons for leaving the World Cup squad. "I know who Ben is, what he needs, what his character is and how happy we all are to have him at the club."
White has been integral to Arsenal's unexpected Premier League title charge this season moving away from his traditional centre back position out to the right side of defence where he is has excelled in an inverted full-back role. Arteta has revealed this is something he had in mind for the England international going right back to his arrival from Brighton last summer.
"I already had that idea last year but I didn’t think we had somebody in that position to replace what I wanted to do," the Spaniard told Jamie Carragher. "The moment that (William) Saliba came in and I looked at the amount of development he had in the last year at Marseille, I said, we need to adapt and straight away after that"
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