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Arsenal defender Ben White has been handed a shock England call-up by Thomas Tuchel after Bayer Leverkusen\u2019s Jarell Quansah had to pull out the squad.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old has not featured in the national team squad since the 2022 World Cup despite playing a key role for Arsenal<\/strong> over the past few seasons.<\/p>\n White returned early from Qatar for what the Football Association called \u201cpersonal reasons\u201d and reports later emerged of an alleged bust-up with former England assistant Steve Holland<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Arsenal star\u2019s versatility would\u2019ve come in handy for England at Euro 2024 as the Three Lions reached the final, where they eventually lost to Spain, before Gareth Southgate and assistant Holland resigned from their positions.<\/p>\n Speaking to reporters after being hired as the new England<\/strong> head coach, Tuchel said of White: \u201cHe\u2019d love to be back in the squad. I just think it\u2019s a bit too early now given the seriousness of the injury that he had.\u201d<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe are honoured speaking to him, speaking to Ben, delighted that he\u2019s back on the bench. Now it\u2019s just a question of getting more minutes, more rhythm. He wants to be back.\u201d<\/p>\n READ: Premier League winners and losers: Pereira, pre-break Spurs, Everton, Liverpool, \u00a3748.4m Chelsea<\/strong><\/p>\n England announced on Monday morning that White and Newcastle winger Harvey Barnes have been called-up for matches against Uruguay and Japan later this month to replace Quansah and Arsenal\u2019s Eberechi Eze.<\/p>\n A statement read: \u201cNewcastle United\u2019s Harvey Barnes and Arsenal\u2019s Ben White have been added to the England squad.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pair replace Arsenal\u2019s Eberechi Eze and Bayer Leverkusen\u2019s Jarell Quansah who are ruled out of the Three Lions\u2019 March internationals through injury.<\/p>\n \u201cBarnes made his only appearance for the senior team in October 2020 while White has four caps to his name.<\/p>\n \u201cEngland host Uruguay on Friday (27 March, 7.45pm kick-off) followed by Japan on Tuesday 31 March (7.45pm kick-off) at Wembley Stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n READ: 16 Conclusions on Manchester City beating bottling Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final<\/strong><\/p>\n White reportedly refused to play for England while Southgate was still in charge and former Liverpool forward Stan Collymore said that the Arsenal defender \u201cshould never be called up again\u201d.<\/p>\n Collymore told Caught Offside<\/em> at the time<\/strong>: \u201cThe biggest talking point from Gareth Southgate\u2019s latest England squad is that Ben White refused to be called up.<\/p>\n \u201cThe defender, according to The Athletic, doesn\u2019t want to represent his country for several reasons, including finding it difficult being further down in Southgate\u2019s pecking order.<\/p>\n \u201cFirstly, and assuming The Athletic\u2019s report is accurate, what a disgrace. If every player took that same stance, international football would be chaos and probably couldn\u2019t happen. Being called up to represent your county is an honour, you should want to do it regardless of whether you\u2019re the first name on the manager\u2019s teamsheet or the last.\u201d<\/p>\n Collymore continued: \u201cEven though I am incredibly disappointed a player has made this decision, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a great loss to England. White is having a decent season for Arsenal, but I don\u2019t think he\u2019s good enough anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cCredit where it\u2019s due \u2014 he is certainly versatile \u2014 he can play at right back, centre-back and even drift into midfield, but there is no way he\u2019s going to get in ahead of Kyle Walker or John Stones, both of whom can also play those roles.<\/p>\n \u201cSo for me, thanks but no thanks, Mr White. We know you want to be a nailed-on starter, but you can\u2019t always get exactly what you want, especially at international level and especially in tournament football. It\u2019s a squad game, and if you\u2019re lucky enough to get a chance, it\u2019s on you to take it, but he\u2019s refused the opportunity, so in my opinion, he should never be called up again \u2014 regardless of who is in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n READ NEXT: Mikel Arteta punished for \u2018narrow, limited, eye bleed take on football\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n