Ben White made himself unavailable for England selection in March 2024 but his international return isn’t far away.
The Arsenal defender has been capped four times but chose to withdraw from international football towards the end of Gareth Southgate’s time in charge.
New England manager Thomas Tuchel did not name White in his first squad but confirmed that he is available and England had monitored his recovery from injury.
‘For me, you should never say no’
“He loves to be back in the squad,” said Tuchel. “I just think it’s a bit too early now for him given the seriousness of the injury he had.”
If former England winger Chris Waddle had his way, White would remain on the sidelines until the end of 2025 at the earliest.
“No, I wouldn’t bring Ben White back in,” Waddle told 10bet.
“He said he didn’t want to be picked again. He spat the dummy out, didn’t he? So now he’s alright to play. So, he wants to pick and choose his England career?
“Listen, you would never say you never want to play for England. I would never have said that. I would have played if I was 50.
“So, modern day players who say that, I’m not being picked, so don’t pick me again, all of a sudden become available.”
Waddle, who is ranked at no. 10 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best English midfielders ever, played 62 times for England.
“For the time he didn’t play, he didn’t want to play, I would say, well, we’ll give you the same ban. So, if it was a year or two years, then I’d consider you in two years’ time,” he continued.
“For me, you should never say no. Now, okay, if you don’t get on with the manager and you don’t like the style of play, you wouldn’t be picked anyway. But when you get a late call-up, you don’t say no.”
Waddle’s opinion has some logic and international football tradition in its favour but would apply equally to any player who declined a call-up irrespective of their circumstances.
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, a player’s reasons for ruling themselves out of England contention are relevant and it’s short-sighted to condemn White without taking his situation into account.
Southgate denied reports of tension between White and former England assistant manager Steve Holland and White’s motivations have never been confirmed. Regardless, professional players must do what they believe is right for their careers.
