Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta sheds new light on why Ben White quit England amid 'brave' admission

Mikel Arteta has defended Ben White's decision to not play for England post-2022 World Cup, noting the Arsenal star didn't want to let his country down.

Since leaving the Qatar camp amid a reported fallout with assistant coach Steve Holland, White hasn't rejoined the England squad. Now recuperating from knee surgery, the 27-year-old is back on England's radar under new boss Thomas Tuchel.

England legend Stuart Pearce has condemned the potential recall saying: "If they let you down once, they always let you down." But Arteta defender his player and described the former Brighton man as "brave".

"From what I understand the reasons, it wasn't about letting somebody down," Arteta said ahead of Arsenal's clash with Chelsea on Sunday. "He 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."

“I can tell you because I was very involved in the moment that that happened and I know how Ben felt and that was for me very, very clear the reason why he made that decision, how he was feeling about it and how he was struggling.

"It was about just facing the situation and saying: 'I cannot handle it now and I am not the best person to represent the country the way I feel right now'. I think not a lot of people would do it. What he did in my opinion was very brave and not a lot of people would have done it. Whatever the outcome is, what I want is Ben to be happy and that he feels fulfilled.”

Arteta's comments come after Tuchel named his first England squad since taking over from Gareth Southgate. Tuchel has selected 26 players for this month’s World Cup qualifiers at Wembley Stadium against Albania and Latvia. White is not part of the squad as he is still getting back up to speed following knee surgery but the former Chelsea boss admitted his intention to select the defender in the future.

Asked if White’s absence from his first squad was due to the player refusing a call-up, the new England boss said: “Absolutely not. He loves 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, he’s back now in back-to-back trainings, so we were monitoring the process. Huge compliments to the medical and performance department of the FA, and thanks to everyone at Arsenal for letting us monitor closely.

“So, we’re on it, I’m speaking to him, I was speaking to him at the Champions League match now. I think now it’s just a question about getting more minutes, getting more rhythm, and then he has every chance to be back, and he wants to be back, and is glad to be back.”

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