As for the reasons behind it, he had no idea. This time he had felt he had no option but to reveal the true nature of the situation. His team-mates lined up for the purposes of that video to testify to White’s unflagging will to win.Īt the same time the England manager was explaining that other players in the past had done the same as White and as manager he had chosen to keep those decisions secret. Meanwhile, Arsenal were bolstering their man online. The England manager said he did not know why the player had chosen to make the decision. Southgate had not spoken to White since a conversation in the aftermath of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a tournament from which White asked to be sent home. ![]() It seemed like the England manager was waiting to be asked – and he responded by saying that Arsenal’s sporting director Edu had rung his FA counterpart John McDermott this month to say, on White’s behalf, that the player did not wish to be selected. A few hours later at Wembley, Gareth Southgate would disclose that development when he was asked why he had not selected the 26-year-old in his England squad to face Brazil and Belgium in two critical pre-Euro 2024 friendlies. ![]() Instead this felt like a preemptive shot in an intriguing public relations struggle between Arsenal and the Football Association over the decision by White to end, unilaterally, his international career – for the time being anyway. Who is Benjamin White? Thus began a video released on Arsenal’s social media channels on Tuesday morning to herald a contract extension signed by the club’s right-back, albeit with a motive that felt like it went well beyond the usual announcements of new deals.
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