Mikel Arteta praises ‘brave’ Ben White over England decision and sheds more light on why he made himself unavailable | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta says Ben White’s decision to ask to be left out of previous England squads was “very brave” and has shed more light on the situation.

White did not make Thomas Tuchel’s first England squad having only just returned from injury but the new Three Lions boss revealed the door is open for the Arsenal defender to return to his national side.

“Absolutely not,” Tuchel said when asked if White had refused an England call-up this time around.

“He would love to be back in the squad, I just think it’s a bit too early now for him given the seriousness of the injury that he had.

“I’m delighted that he’s back, back now in back-to-back trainings. We were monitoring the process with huge compliments to the medical and performance department of the FA and thanks to everyone at Arsenal to let us monitor closely.

“So we were on it, speaking to Ben, we’re delighted he’s back on the bench [for Arsenal]. He had a Champions League match in the second leg and now it’s just a question about getting more minutes and rhythm and he has every chance to be back. And he wants to be back.”

White has not been involved with England since the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, when he left the tournament early for personal reasons.

And asked for his reaction to claims that White had previously turned his back on his country, Arteta responded: “I can tell you because I was very involved in the moment that it happened and I know how Ben felt.

“It was very, very clear, the reason why he made that decision, how he felt about it and how struggling he was.

“Certainly it wasn’t about that, it was about being the opposite, just facing the situation and saying I cannot handle it now and I’m not the best person to represent the country with the way I feel right now.

“For me, it was completely the opposite. I think a lot of people would hide in that context and in that environment, let time go and nobody talks about it.

“In my opinion, it was very brave and not a lot of people would have done it.

“From what I understand of the reasons, it was not about letting somebody down, it was just telling somebody ‘I don’t want to let you down and this is the way I feel, I think it’s very difficult for me to give you what you need’, so I think it was completely different.”