Arsenal have completed the signing of Ben White from Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 23 year old has been linked strongly with the Gunners throughout the summer, and today confirmation of his £50m move from the south coast was made official.
The centre-half made 41 first team appearances for the Seagulls, fewer than the 49 he made for Leeds United during a successful loan spell there in 2019-20. He also had spells at Newport County and Peterborough.
White was something of a surprise inclusion in the England squad for the European Championships this summer, and although he didn’t play, is highly regarded by Gareth Southgate and his staff.
Speaking about the deal, Arsenal’s Technical Director Edu, said, “Ben has been a key target this summer.
“He has so many qualities which make us so excited he’s joining us. Ben’s a young English player with a great future. He’s very strong defensively, good on the ball with a great passing range.
“We’re delighted Ben’s signed and we look forward to him growing with us.”
White becomes the third signing of the summer after Nuno Tavares and Albert Sambi Lokonga, and we’ll have profile & data pieces on arseblog.com and here on Arseblog News.
Welcome to the Arsenal, Ben.
alright alright alright
I get older, they stay the same age!
That’s the thing with cheese – it ages faster 🤷
Welcome to Arsenal!
Now get that shit shirt off you, son.
It’s Brighton not Tottenham
Yes, the team that fouled their way to victory over us (we were shit in fairness but they were still dirty) and then their gobby striker banjaxed Leno for shits and giggles. They may not be Spuds but they’re cunts all the same in my book.
Why such vitriol?
one game is your judgement for an entire team?
No I’ve noted before how they play. They play dirty. The culmination was the game where Maupay injured Leno out of sheer spite and got away with it.
Mate I hate that incident/maupey as much as the next guy, but graham potter is a good manager who has them playing half decent football.
Mauling and kicking us to fuck and climaxing with intentionally injuring our keeper long term is not my idea of half decent. That’s how shit teams play and somehow the PL often lets those teams get away with it because it’s covered up by pundits using terms like “physical”, “old school” and other nonsense.
Lets hope White earns his Stripes.
A seven-nation army couldn’t hold him back!
Said it once before but it bears repeating now.
Get in Son! Welcome to the Arsenal
We do not want Son at the emirates.
I wish we paid 50mn for Son. He would have been a fantastic addition for Arsenal.
Well we got White, as long as Arteta can figure out his playing position, he will fine.
You need to penance from Bishop
We got our invincible Sol Campbell from Spurs, so why the hate for buying Spurs best player from them?
Welcome hurricane 100m + auba
Get in!!
I hope the price tag doesn’t prove a burden for him.
He is ours now and… It’s fucking excellent
Bloody hell, that came out of nowhere like a Sol Campbell secret signing sequel !
Welcome Whitey!
I guess I was the only one who heard about this for the past two months.
Less of the racial stereoty… oh I see
Welcome. Hope we get a glimpse of him this weekend
Less of the racial stereoty… oh I see
Ffs. Replied to the wrong comment. But you take it as a warning Sheldon…
Woah I didn’t see this one coming coming. Welcome to Arsenal sir!!
Didn’t see that one coming!
The Rolls Royce of defenders. Wish you Hugh success with our Arsenal.
Just saw some of his individual highlights and was well impressed. Got great awareness, anticipation and control on ball. He can actually be a midfielder.
Great signing.
#AnnounceHugh
So assuming White + Gabriel as starting CB pair, with Holding + Mari as backups. Chambers as RB/third-choice CB, assuming we sell Bellerin?
Also, we don’t have a lot of height on our back line…
Chambers & White both 6’ – Gabriel 6’3’’. That’s not bad??
Holding is 6’2” so we’re not too bad for height at the back.
Sergio Ramos and Thiago Silva are both 6′ tall. Height isn’t everything…
Then when you have someone like Per people complain he’s too slow. Can’t win!
Solid points all! I though White was shorter
Yeah, but Ramos never won anything.
Sargio Ramos and Ben white both have same height.
It’s all about timing
…said the actress to the archbishop.
Barring left back, a very precise summary of our back line, yes.
Welcome Benny Blanco 4, Get in son!!!!
Well done GoonerMike
50m… they’ve had our pants down.
Anyway the price tag isn’t his fault, welcome to Arsenal, let’s hope you get us top 4 to make up for it
Have they? Look at the cost of good English defenders over the last few years, it’s madness. For his age and experience I think it’s about spot on.
Looks like Chelsea might pay £68m for Kounde, who is a similar profile (and shorter), so I think it’s the going rate
Speak for yourself, Tommy. My pants have been up all day.
Stones, Wan Bissaka, Walker, Chillwell all 50m
Top English talent is expensive. Brighton were in a very strong position.
Stones, Walker, Chilwell all had far more prem first team experience, even wan bissaka did but he was also a rip off
that’s not really the point though is it
Some very knowledgeable people vouch for Ben White’s quality and potential. They have changed my mind and got me very excited about this signing. Safe in defense, exciting in attack. Our team needs to be full of players who can pass as well as move with the ball to open up passing angles. Defensively, a very intelligent player. He has good composure, decisions and positioning. He clean in a tackle. He does not have lapses in concentration. He has all the mental attributes that are harder to teach. Physically, he has time to get there as a 23 year old.
He played all those games for Bielsa, who then really wanted to keep him. So, that takes care of any questions about his stamina.
Imagine a player with the qualities of Luiz without the imploding clown car gene and sideshow hair. Delicious!
You’ve just sold him to me
Welcome Benny Blanco
Good luck Ben White!
And he’s gonna be rocking Patrick Vieira’s old number 4 shirt, so no pressure lad, just remember who you are and who you represent now
Gabriel and White could end up a solid pairing. Holding and Chambers to back them aren’t shabby either. Now if we can just sort out an attacking midfield and striker situation, oh and maybe right back.
Any word on RB targets other than Aarons? Think he would be ideal profile
Excellent signing…..welcome Ben! What’s going on with Xhaka?? If he’s staying, can we sell Elneny and still get an exciting, young number 8 like Guimarães to add serious squad depth?
maybe an unpopular opinion but I really don’t mind Xhaka staying if it means we can add players at AM and RB. He is limited in terms of his dribbling and mobility, which is definitely is an issue. But his passing is very good and his temperament, for the most part, has improved. I think he has improved significantly and his best years might be the next 2-3 seasons. His performance vs France in the Euros was amazing from the deep midfield position, constantly releasing his teammates through the lines. if the rest of the team improves around and in… Read more »
Yeah I agree. He’s solid and was a key player last season, we went out of the Europa League when he got injured in the warm up…..we really missed him. I’d love to still get a young number 8 though and they can fight for that position, with Xhaka maybe second choice. For £15m or whatever they were offering, I think it makes sense keeping him.
Yup, I guess sambi is going to get lots of minutes which is great. But if we could get Torriera, Elneny, Willock (on loan, I think it’s a good idea) a move then we should try and get another young talent in.
Yep. Willock is the only one that could possibly stay but I don’t think he fits into the current 4-2-3-1 system. Time for an Elneny upgrade !!!
We went out of the Europa because Arteta played a false 9 in the away leg, when we needed goals.
Agreed. I’m always up for an upgrade on what we have but, if Roma doesn’t match our valuation & we haven’t identified any affordable significant upgrades that can slot right in, think it’s best we hold on to possibly our most consistent CM of last season.
May also give Lokonga time to properly settle in before taking over the position.
Exactly, we’re unlikely to be able to attract a better player for his transfer fee. Might as well keep him.
The team will never get where we all want it to be, with Xhaka as a regular starter
I agree, where Arsenal wants to be or should want to be is winning the title and the champions league. Granit Xhaka is never going to be that good and I would love Arsenal to bring in a word class CM. But we finished 8th last year and we are a long way off. We’re not in Europe and for 15m euros, it would be crazy to sell a 28-year-old international captain for that amount of money. He is remarkably durable, his passing really is very good. You are going to struggle to get a player anywhere near as good… Read more »
i think he’s a solid, senior pro and good for the dressing room as well. As I say, I hope we still get a young exciting & more mobile number 8 who would be first choice in that position.
Agreed.
He’s disrespected the captaincy, the shirt, the fans and given away ridiculously soft and stupid goals – yet a few mediocrity loving nutcases still want him in the team.
Unbelievable.
Firstly, welcome to Arsenal. Hope he is a success. Must say I was surprised that standing next to Arteta they are similar height and build. I do like my CB a bit tougher looking/taller but here’s hoping it’s money well spent. Time will tell. For now, fully behind him.
Didn’t see this coming. What a pleasant surprise.
There have been stories about the transfer fee but this is an English player with a lot of upsides. Fergie signed Rio for 30m in 2002, that’ll be more than 100m in today’s market. I am not saying he has an identical profile as Rio or will have the same impact (I wish), but the value corresponds with the going rate for promising English defenders. Welcome to Arsenal Ben. Prove the doubters wrong
Good news. I’m not sure what this means for our other centre backs though. With Holding, Mari, Chambers and Gabriel on the books, plus Saliba out on loan I suspect we might see one of those leave. Unless Chambers is now deemed a right back permanently.
Hopefully White proves to be an upgrade on what we have.
I’d now like us to sign a CB to partner him with the surname “Red”.
What!! When!!! But how!!!
Ben Dyk
Welcome to Arsenal Benjamin William White. May the number 4 shirt bring you as much success as it brought many of the number 4s before you.
Kieran and Thomas should make for good company in the changing room.
Clean sheets are always nicer when they’re White.
White is a very good defender, but we’ve paid far too much for him. Fifty million quid for a player who’s not an automatic England starter is too steep. He’s worth between 30 and 40 million. But paying too much in transfer fees and wages is part of the Arsenal culture in recent years. This signing won’t actually make much of a difference to the side: defensively we were pretty good last season. Our number one problem was the paucity of goals and our Inability to consistently create quality chances. It didn’t help that Auba had a stinkier of a… Read more »
Forget it, next up is Ramsdale…
Seems to have taken an age to finally announce it, but here he is at last. Welcome to Arsenal.
Welcome Benedict “you shall not pass” (The) White (Wizard) – sorry it’s Friday and it’s nice to get some good Arsenal news ! I’ll get my coat…..
I love this signing but I feel like we’re giving up on saliba now
All well and good and I’m sure the lad will settle in quickly. Nice to sign home grown quality for a change too.
Now. Arsenal. Get n a decent top drawer attacking midfielder, because that’s what this window should be all about first and foremost. No excuses.
Willkommen black
Well so much for Saliba 4….
Excited other than that. Looking forward to a solid back line.
Fuck this. We have (had) saliba. Arteta and edu out.