Arsenal defender Ben White has returned to training with the Premier League leaders in the wake of his World Cup withdrawal from the England squad.
Having starred for the Gunners in the right-back role during the first half of the 2022-23 season, White forced his way into Gareth Southgate's 26-man crop for the Qatar tournament.
However, the 25-year-old was facing an uphill battle to earn minutes over Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier, and he was an unused substitute against Iran and the USA in England's first two group matches.
White was then absent from the squad from the 3-0 win over Wales on November 29, with England stating that the Arsenal defender was dealing with an illness before he withdrew due to personal reasons a day later.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion man subsequently missed knockout matches with Senegal and France, and he was not named in the initial Arsenal squad for their winter training camp in Dubai.
© Reuters
A recent report had claimed that White's exit from the Arsenal squad was due to an alleged bust-up with assistant manager Steve Holland, and he is also said to have struggled to gel with the rest of the squad.
When asked about the allegations, Southgate refused to flat-out deny the story, but he also insisted that he would not give the reports any "credibility" by commenting on them.
"What I've been shown was alleged and there was another word that was used. I think by commenting on the story I could be giving it any form of credibility, really. We explained why Ben left the camp and I think it's important that that is respected, really," Southgate said.
Now, White has returned to training with the Arsenal squad in the Middle East as they prepare for the second of their two Dubai Super Cup matches with Italian champions AC Milan on Tuesday.
The versatile defender was pictured alongside Thomas Partey, who has also rejoined Mikel Arteta's side after Ghana's World Cup exit, on the exercise bikes ahead of Tuesday's game.
Back in camp 💪 pic.twitter.com/AFrfBstvf0
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) December 11, 2022
White has two assists to boast from 19 games in an Arsenal shirt during the 2022-23 season, taking his total for the Gunners to two assists in 56 games since joining from Brighton in a £50m move in 2021.
USA goalkeeper Matt Turner was another World Cup representative to return to training with the Premier League table-toppers after the Stars and Stripes were knocked out by the Netherlands in the last 16.
England's exit to France in the last 16 means that Arsenal now only have one representative left in the tournament in the form of William Saliba, with Bukayo Saka and Aaron Ramsdale's run now over.
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli only played a bit-part role as the Selecao's hopes ended with quarter-final defeat to Croatia, but Gabriel Jesus is set for a significant spell on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury in Qatar.
Arsenal secured a 3-0 win over Lyon in their Dubai Super Cup opener before a 2-1 win in the penalty shootout for an additional point, and Arteta's side also face Juventus next Saturday before returning to Premier League action against West Ham United on Boxing Day.
Ben Knapton
