When Mikel Arteta and Edu spent shedloads of money in the summer transfer window, many Arsenal fans questioned why we would have spent the largest part of our kitty buying a centre-back, but Ben White is certainly proving the naysayers wrong, and has won over his critics as the season has progressed.
With Aaron Ramsdale between the sticks and White’s excellent partnership with Gabriel, the Gunners now have a formidable defence, and the 24 year-old is one of the first names on Arteta’s team sheet in every single game.
After Arsenal managed to keep Liverpool out on Thursday after going down to ten men, Arteta singled out White for a special mention after the game. The Boss told Arsenal.com: “”He’s just moved to our club and he’s just been here just for a few months but he has something and he wants to do it,”
“He’s very demanding with himself, he’s really willing to learn and improve his game and he’s in the right place.
“In terms of the qualities that I saw in him and what is required for us to try to recruit somebody like him with his qualities, it was clear. Then those personalities as well, that chemistry has to exist [between White and Gabriel].
“We can see they really enjoy playing together, you can see that, that chemistry is there and that’s a massive extra when you are looking to build something at the back.”
If Arsenal do end up back in Europe next season, then I doubt there will be many Arsenal fans saying that we shouldn’t have spent that 50m on Ben White, would there?
Enjoy!
Watch Mikel Arteta’s Press Conference ahead of Tottenham – “We want to play”
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