A very complimentary video of Arsenal players talking about Ben White was not released on purpose to counter the upcoming news that he had made himself unavailable for England.
On Thursday morning, the north London club announced that the in-form 26-year-old had signed a new four-year deal that keeps him at the Emirates until 2028.
Alongside the announcement, Arsenal also put out a heartfelt – but rather unorthodox – video of White’s team-mates speaking about him positively, which was titled ‘Benjamin White, as told by his team-mates’.
Though seemingly harmless, the video was seen differently when, just a few hours later, Gareth Southgate revealed that White had rejected an invitation to join the England national team..
Instantly, fans connected the two events, implying that Arsenal had anticipated the news and were firmly supporting their defender's decision.
However, The Telegraph are reporting that this was not the case, and the timing of the tribute video was completely coincidental.
The announcement about White’s contract, along with the subsequent content, had been planned for Thursday morning for a long time and was not meant to soften the blow of his England rejection.
Additionally, the idea behind the video was that White is not very talkative and doesn't make for the most interesting interviewee, so it was thought that his team-mates would be better suited to speak about him instead.
The mystery regarding White's rejection continues, with Southgate indicating that he did not know why the former Brighton man no longer wanted to play for his country.
He has not spoken to White since a conversation shortly after he left the Qatar World Cup early, sensing a ‘reluctance’ from him to join up even back then.
White did not personally inform Southgate of his decision; instead, Arsenal sporting director Edu informed FA technical director John McDermott of his withdrawal from consideration on his behalf.
In announcing White’s decision, Southgate said: ‘He’s a player that I really like. He’s a player that we took to a Euros when he was at Brighton, a player that we took to the World Cup. I spoke to him post-Qatar because I was keen to pick him and there was clearly reluctance from his side.
‘I don’t fully understand why that is, but I have to respect that. I want to leave the opportunity open for him because he’s a good player and I think he’s a player that could make a difference for England. But he’s not available to us, and so the only other thing I would say is, there is no issue between us at all.’
As of now, neither Arsenal nor the FA have given any explanation for why White has chosen not to play for England.
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