White gets first England call-up since 2022

Arsenal defender Ben White has ended a three-year England exile after being summoned by head coach Thomas Tuchel for the forthcoming March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan at Wembley Stadium.

The 27-year-old’s return to the national set-up marks his first involvement since departing the squad during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons and subsequently making himself unavailable throughout Gareth Southgate’s tenure.

White, who has not played for England since a 3-0 friendly victory over Ivory Coast in March 2022, replaces Liverpool’s Jarell Quansah in Tuchel’s expanded 35-man party after the Bayer Leverkusen centre-back withdrew with a thigh injury.

Despite featuring in only seven Premier League fixtures for table-topping Arsenal this season, White has started eight of the club’s ten Champions League matches en route to the quarter-finals and completed the full 90 minutes in Sunday’s 2-0 Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City.

Tuchel’s decision to recall White has fuelled debate over the continued omission of Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has now missed four consecutive England squads. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, former England striker Chris Sutton labelled the move “left-field”, adding: “Tuchel clearly has something against Trent. It seems very odd that a player everyone views as this wonderful talent can’t get in.”

Observer journalist Rory Smith believes Alexander-Arnold’s World Cup hopes are effectively over: “If he isn’t in the squad now, he won’t be in the squad in June.”

Tuchel first explored White’s availability shortly after taking charge and, after family issues and a knee injury delayed previous call-ups, has now finally secured the right-back’s return ahead of the summer tournament.