Arsenal director Edu supposedly called up England manager Gareth Southgate to inform him that Ben White did not want to be considered for selection for this latest Three Lions squad.
White has been a key player for the Gunners in recent times, and has just been rewarded for his fine form with a new contract at the Emirates Stadium.
However, the 26-year-old has had a slightly strange international career so far, having won only four England caps, and notably leaving the 2022 World Cup for unspecific personal reasons.
According to journalist Alex Howell, White would have been involved in this latest England squad, only for Edu to contact Southgate to inform him he didn’t want to be considered for a call-up…
Southgate says he had a call from Edu at Arsenal to say that Ben White did not want to be considered for selection for this camp. He says 'he would have been in this squad' #England
— Alex Howell (@iamAlexHowell) March 14, 2024
This will no doubt raise a few eyebrows as it’s not clear what issues White seems to have with playing for England, but it looks now like these incidents are surely not a coincidence.
In fairness, there is a lot of competition for places at centre-back and right-back, the two positions White plays in, so perhaps the player isn’t keen to be called up when there’s little chance of him actually playing.
That said, most professionals are usually happy to compete for a place and would accept a fight to do that, even if there’s no guarantee of making it into the starting line up, so it would be surprising if White really felt there was no need to even try.
It will be interesting to see if there are any further updates about this story, as one hopes there will at some point be a role for this talented player and England.