Mikel Arteta has backed Arsenal defender Ben White to make the England squad for next summer’s World Cup.
The defender has made just four starts for Arsenal this season after recovering from injury setbacks. White impressed as Arsenal progressed to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday, with a 2-0 win over the defender’s former club, Brighton.
The 28-year-old has not featured for England since withdrawing from the 2022 World Cup squad, following a reported fall-out with former Three Lions coaching staff. He then asked to not be considered for a call-up.
Thomas Tuchel has previously said he has held positive talks with White over a return, though he was not called up for squads in March, June, September or October. However, Arsenal boss Arteta believes the defender is capable of making a late case for World Cup inclusion.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s win over Brighton, Arteta said: “It’s still a lot of months to go and in football everything can change one way or the other and if Ben wants to do that, if Thomas believes he is the right player to do so, I’m so happy for him.
“He will have here, I’m sure, a lot of minutes, a lot of opportunities and obviously his background talks about himself in the best possible way to give him the chance to be there.
“He had a setback, and that hasn’t helped, but I think in preseason, probably, he was our best player.
“I think he played every game, and he was in great form, and we needed it because when Ben is at the level that he can show, he’s a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well, and we needed him at his best.”
