Ben White | Arsenal

jeff gurr

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He’s still not in the squad, while extremely average centre backs are. Not a good look for him. It’s not a VVD situation where he’s at a midtable club but undisputed first choice for his country with potential suitors in every direction. White has never been called up for England, despite playing in a position they are very weak in, and no other big clubs are looking at him.
The fact that he hasn't received an England call up reflects more on Southgate than it does on White !! Godfrey & Keane who have easily outperformed Dier this season couldn't make the squad either. At 23 years old he has a great future !
 

SecondFig

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He’s still not in the squad, while extremely average centre backs are. Not a good look for him. It’s not a VVD situation where he’s at a midtable club but undisputed first choice for his country with potential suitors in every direction. White has never been called up for England, despite playing in a position they are very weak in, and no other big clubs are looking at him.
Not sure we should worry about who's getting caps for England. Grealish has still only been capped, what, twice? It's a while ago now, but Bruce never got a single cap for England.
 

Devil may care

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He's a decent player but doesn't have the attributes needed to be a good fit with Maguire and it's crucial that we replace Lindelof as a starter.
 

Judas

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He’s still not in the squad, while extremely average centre backs are. Not a good look for him. It’s not a VVD situation where he’s at a midtable club but undisputed first choice for his country with potential suitors in every direction. White has never been called up for England, despite playing in a position they are very weak in, and no other big clubs are looking at him.
Do you rate Southgate as a manager then? Why would his opinion carry any weight with anyone, his squad selection is often utterly baffling.
 

Freak

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I'm not sure how good he is but if our management/scouts have decided that he is good enough, I'd like us to test Brighton with an offer for both him and Bissouma (who I really rate if we are looking at a pure defensive midfielder). That would allow us to spend the 'bigger' amounts on our attack (Sancho or Haaland).
 

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Honestly?

Would say they're the polar opposite.

Jones was, and still very much is an aggressive, front foot, all or nothing type of defender, whereas White is calm, elegant and good on the ball.

I'd actually say White is more similar to John Stones than Phil Jones.

I wouldn't be against it, as I feel he wouldn't be an automatic starter, meaning have time to slowly progress.
Honestly, if he is fit for next season, I would rather have Phil Jones.
 

Sea-Cow

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Honestly, if he is fit for next season, I would rather have Phil Jones.
Thats because Phil Jones is great. If he went on loan to a prem side he would be the defensive equivalent of Lingard.
 

Poborsky's hair

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Just checked he´s 23 already! Not that it´s old age for a CB but surely he´s due a step up to a bigger club if he´s any good. He looks technically sound but 1.82 looks like a handicap to me, certainly in the prem. We should aim to replace Lindelof with someone better not another average CB and also plan to get a player in Maguire´s absence. Not trying to call for an injury or anything but we are truly fecked with Maguire potentially out, same way Liveprool with Van Dijk imo. Also Ben White isn´t he a Leeds player?
 

JohnnyLaw

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Just checked he´s 23 already! Not that it´s old age for a CB but surely he´s due a step up to a bigger club if he´s any good. He looks technically sound but 1.82 looks like a handicap to me, certainly in the prem. We should aim to replace Lindelof with someone better not another average CB and also plan to get a player in Maguire´s absence. Not trying to call for an injury or anything but we are truly fecked with Maguire potentially out, same way Liveprool with Van Dijk imo. Also Ben White isn´t he a Leeds player?
Transfermarkt has him at 1,89m. Nah, Brighton player, only went to Leeds on loan.
 

neilv93

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Only Romania but looked rather assured and composed today. I love his ability on the ball as a defender and he always seems so calm. Seen us linked with him before and might be a good alternative if Pau Torres/Kounde/Varane are no-go's.
 
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Ekeke

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Romania had plenty of chances and he wasnt impressive on the ball which is his main standout ability most of the time
 

Cassidy

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Meh, Im not seeing it yet
 

Bwuk

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I think Ben White is a decent player, but for what we’d have to pay he wouldn’t be worth it.
 

Devil81

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I like him a lot, but then I liked Ake a lot and look how he's struggled at City.
 

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Good Premier League defender. Not any better than what we already have.
 

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Rather him than spend silly money on Torres.
Torres has a release clause, so I think he'd be cheaper. White is an interesting type, but I think I'd take both Torres and Kounde over him. And Varane over all of them.
 

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Torres has a release clause, so I think he'd be cheaper. White is an interesting type, but I think I'd take both Torres and Kounde over him. And Varane over all of them.
Isn't Torres release clause over 50m though? I can't honestly remember to be fair.

But then White would probably cost silly money anyway due to be being English and playing in the PL.
 

Bastian

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Isn't Torres release clause over 50m though? I can't honestly remember to be fair.

But then White would probably cost silly money anyway due to be being English and playing in the PL.
I saw 30m, asked on here and someone said 50m. But like you say, English players in the Prem, and Brighton rejected all advances from Leeds last summer. Doubt he's going anywhere for anything other than way above market value.
 

FatTails

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English, young, and plays for a PL side. The perfect ingredients for a transfer to cost at least double what it’s actually worth.
 

Okey

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Way too safe for my liking. Hardly ever passes forward. Even in an attacking side like Brighton. Whenever I watch them, it's Lewis Dunk who stands out. That said, White was amazing at Leeds in the championship, so it might a levels thing for him. Which wouldn't bode well at United.
 

Bastian

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Yeah, not too steep.

Way too safe for my liking. Hardly ever passes forward. Even in an attacking side like Brighton. Whenever I watch them, it's Lewis Dunk who stands out. That said, White was amazing at Leeds in the championship, so it might a levels thing for him. Which wouldn't bode well at United.
Level is just one factor, another, and quite a huge one, is being coached by Bielsa and forced to be brave. There is no hiding place there.
 

Okey

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Yeah, not too steep.



Level is just one factor, another, and quite a huge one, is being coached by Bielsa and forced to be brave. There is no hiding place there.
Good point!
 

Crimson King

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Decent enough player, but not good enough for United. He's not even the best player in that Brighton defence at the moment. He's still pretty young so might improve, but at the moment he's riding the English hype train.

For the money he'd cost you'd want to see an immediate improvement to your backline, which wouldn't happen if he came here.
 

elmo

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Decent enough player, but not good enough for United. He's not even the best player in that Brighton defence at the moment. He's still pretty young so might improve, but at the moment he's riding the English hype train.

For the money he'd cost you'd want to see an immediate improvement to your backline, which wouldn't happen if he came here.
He'll be better than Lindelof, which makes him an upgrade.
 

Marwood

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I really like him. As long as there isn't some absurd English tax I'd be getting him before his value shoots up.

Good physical presence, composed, good passer, quick enough and way off his prime.

What is that people feel he lacks, except for experience?
 

sullydnl

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It's not like he's been particularly outstanding for Brighton this season.

For example, there's a thread on the Brighton forum "North Stand Chat" asking them to rate their CBs this season. 95% think Dunk was better than White, 57% think Webster was better, 55.5% think both were better. Only 2.78% thought White was their best CB.

Expecting him to immediately be the second best CB here seems a bit much.
 
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He'll be better than Lindelof, which makes him an upgrade.
We watch United every game so we see the mistakes Lindelof makes (and some like Villarreal where he doesn't but still gets blamed).. I bet White's made loads for Brighton that we haven't seen.

Personally, I haven't seen anything to say he's better week in, week out and Brighton would want £40m-£50m ish. Rather pay more for a top defender with good experience including European games than the second best (maybe) Brighton defender with an international friendly Vs an average team under his belt.
 

GledTheRed

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It's not like he's been particularly outstanding for Brighton this season.

For example, there's a thread on the Brighton forum "North Stand Chat" asking them to rate their CBs this season. 95% think Dunk was better than White, 57% think Webster was better, 55.5% think both were better. Only 2.78% thought White was their best CB.

Expecting him to immediately be the second best CB here seems a bit much.
Nothing witng with that, Dunk is a quality centre back and should have been in the England squad ehaead of minging Mings and comedy Coady.
 

Bebestation

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He can play CDm and CB so it may help us in two areas with one player.
 

sullydnl

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Nothing witng with that, Dunk is a quality centre back and should have been in the England squad ehaead of minging Mings and comedy Coady.
Sure but Lindelof would have walked into that England team too. "Better than Mings" isn't the standard of CB we're looking for from a signing.

White is fine. But if people think he'd immediately improve our first 11 then so would any other CB we've been seriously linked with this summer and much more so in some cases.
 

Marwood

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It's not like he's been particularly outstanding for Brighton this season.

For example, there's a thread on the Brighton forum "North Stand Chat" asking them to rate their CBs this season. 95% think Dunk was better than White, 57% think Webster was better, 55.5% think both were better. Only 2.78% thought White was their best CB.

Expecting him to immediately be the second best CB here seems a bit much.
Dunk should be better, he's right in his prime.

White's obviously a way off his prime but he's at that age where his game will go up a level very soon.

We've waited in the past for that to happen before signing a player. This time I'd like us to get one just before that happens and the price sky rockets.
 

sullydnl

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Dunk should be better, he's right in his prime.

White's obviously a way off his prime but he's at that age where his game will go up a level very soon.

We've waited in the past for that to happen before signing a player. This time I'd like us to get one just before that happens and the price sky rockets.
Sure. But of all the players who fit that profile, why Ben White? Other than him being English, that is.

I mean players like Kounde and Pau Torres are currently better and have played at a higher level than White, with Kounde being younger and Torres just 8 months older. If White is young enough for his game to go up a level soon then presumably they are too.

And I've just picked them as 2 of the 3 main CBs we've been linked with this summer. Presumably there are other Ben White level players across Europe too.
 

Marwood

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Sure. But of all the players who fit that profile, why Ben White? Other than him being English, that is.

I mean players like Kounde and Pau Torres are currently better and have played at a higher level than White, with Kounde being younger and Torres just 8 months older. If White is young enough for his game to go up a level soon then presumably they are too.

And I've just picked them as 2 of the 3 main CBs we've been linked with this summer. Presumably there are other Ben White level players across Europe too.
I've barely seen those two players so you could well be right as far as I know. They might be better.

I can only speak of White. From what I've seen he's got everything that's needed.

I said the same of Maguire when he was lesving Hull. Baffled me why bigger clubs weren't interested.

Plus I like having a core of British players in the squad.