Ben White receives Mikel Arteta support after exit from England World Cup camp – ‘I know who Ben is’

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has rallied behind Ben White after the player’s exit from England’s World Cup camp.

That notion was refuted by England boss Gareth Southgate, who highlighted the use of “alleged” in the report as evidence of the lack of basis for the story.

“As far as I am aware, the article that was written used words like ‘alleged’ and so whoever wrote it didn’t feel strongly enough that it was correct,” Southgate said.

“Ben left for personal reasons. We made that very clear and I think especially in this day and age it is very important that a situation like that is respected.”

And now Arteta, speaking after his side’s 2-1 win over AC Milan at the Dubai Super Cup, has also poured cold water on that controversial claim.

“We can’t control that [the rumour],” Arteta said.

“I know who Ben is, what he needs, what his character is and how happy we all are to have him at the club.

“Everybody has been giving him a lot of support and love.

“We know the reasons he had to leave and it’s good to have him in good shape.”

White was in the Arsenal starting XI for their tie with the Rossoneri, which saw goals from Martin Odegaard – a superb free kick – and Reiss Nelson.

“If we want to develop players you have to expose them in different contexts,” Arteta said of the friendly tie at Al-Maktoum Stadium.

“I thought today was perfect to understand how they can compete even though they’re really young.

“We are looking and we are very active looking at the possibilities [for transfers]. If we can find the players that can strengthen the team we will try.”

Arsenal return to Premier League action on Boxing Day at home to West Ham.

They top the table by five points from Manchester City after a stunning first-half of the season before the break for Qatar 2022.