White ‘made himself unavailable for England’ – Southgatepublished at 11:47 GMT
11:47 GMT
Media caption,
Ben White didn’t want to be considered for England squad says Gareth Southgate
Former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate said that he had “no issue” with Ben White after the Arsenal defender made himself unavailable for selection for warm-up friendlies against Brazil and Belgium in March, 2024.
At the time, Southgate said Arsenal sporting director Edu told him that White did not want to be considered.
“I spoke to him post-Qatar and there was reticence from his side. I don’t know why that is,” said Southgate.
White left England’s World Cup squad in Qatar for personal reasons, with reports saying he was unhappy and had fallen out with assistant coach Steve Holland.
“There is no issue between us at all and there’s also no issue with Steve, which has been mentioned in articles and I don’t like that,” said Southgate.
“I have to accept things are false about me, but I’m not prepared for that to happen to my coaching team. That is not the reason Ben is not with us.”
The 26-year-old has not been selected for England since the 2022 World Cup until now, with Thomas Tuchel now in charge.
His last appearance for England was in a 3-0 friendly win over Ivory Coast on 29 March, 2022.