Arsenal star Ben White warned over ‘nasty reception’

Southgate responds to reports about Ben White's departure

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Arsenal star Ben White could now be in for a “nasty reception” when he travels to away stadiums, according to Gunners hero Emmanuel Petit. The ex-midfielder has also questioned White’s state of mind after the defender left England’s World Cup squad early following an alleged bust-up with assistant manager Steve Holland.

“Ben White, what happened to him was really weird,” Petit told Mega Casino. “He left the national team because he had an argument with someone? Come on, it’s a World Cup. This is a once in a lifetime event.

“If something happened, it must have been very serious for him to leave. We all know what it means to wear the national shirt. How will his state of mind be? Will he be the same player after he took the big decision to leave the England squad? Will he get a nasty reception when he plays in away stadiums?”

White, who has only ever won four caps for England, was included in Gareth Southgate’s squad for the Qatar tournament. He remained on the bench for his country’s group games against Iran and USA but was absent for the clash with Wales because of illness.

And after the Three Lions had booked their place in the last 16 as Group B winners, an FA statement confirmed that White had left the Middle East. “Ben White has left England’s training base in Al Wakrah and returned home for personal reasons,” it read.

“The Arsenal defender is not expected to return to the squad for the remainder of the tournament. We ask that the player’s privacy is respected at this moment in time.”

According to the Daily Star, White’s departure came after he and Holland exchanged words when the player was late for a team meeting and lacked vital information about his stats ahead of the showdown with USA. Southgate’s assistant was also unimpressed by the centre-back’s poor knowledge of the Americans. And a decision was made for White to leave the group.

However, when Southgate was asked about the incident ahead of England’s quarter-final with France, he said: “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.

“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.”

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