Ben White breaks silence amid England decision and new Arsenal contract

Ben White has penned a new contract with Arsenal, but the defender is not making just positive headlines on Thursday. England boss Gareth Southgate has confirmed that White has asked not to be called up by England for the upcoming internationals, potentially ending his chances of making the Euro 2024 squad.

The defender left the World Cup base in Qatar early at the end of 2022, reportedly falling out with the coaching staff. It has now emerged that he choosing to focus on club matters, although Southgate has denied any sort of rift. "We had a call from Edu (Arsenal sporting director) last week (and he) said Ben didn’t want to be considered for England squads at this time," the England boss said. "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." Meanwhile, White has signed a new contract with Arsenal, and he has been speaking about the Gunners' hopes for the season. “Last season we did better than what people expected," he told the club website. "I think there was a little bit of belief that we could do it, and we didn’t get what we wanted last season, but this season, we’ve started so well. Coming in for pre-season, everyone was top and ready to go, you could kind of tell in pre-season that we were going to be another team this year.

“I think with the team, there’s not too much said about where we want to be. I think everyone knows we’re in for the highest we can, and I don’t think anything is too big for us to be able to challenge and win. There’s no limit to what we can achieve."