Gareth Southgate accused of lying about Arsenal ace Ben White as England mystery explained

A former England international has accused Gareth Southgate of lying about Ben White, who made himself unavailable for selection during the last World Cup and has not played for the Three Lions since.

It was later reported that White had been left frustrated over comments made by assistant manager Steve Holland, who was said to have questioned his interest in football.

The Arsenal defender may have also been unhappy with his lack of minutes during Southgate’s time as England manager. He only made the bench for two games at Euro 2020 despite being a key performer at club level with Brighton.

It has since been rumoured that White may be willing to return to England duty when Thomas Tuchel starts work in January.

Speaking to talkSPORT, former England striker Darren Bent suggested that Southgate was not being entirely truthful by insisting that ‘nothing happened’ with White behind the scenes.

“I’m pretty sure he always wanted to play for England but had a problem with Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland,” said Bent.

“Some fans might not see it and they’ll say: ‘Just get on with it, you’re playing for England’. But you have to be comfortable within a working environment.

“As soon as they’ve gone, if he’s saying that he wants to be selected for England, that tells me that it’s never been about playing for his country.

“I’m sure if you sat him down and asked him, he’d say representing his country is the highest honour you can get, but the fact that Southgate came out and lied basically, saying that nothing happened, be honest.

“Say that: ‘We’ve had a bit of a falling-out and he’s opted not to come back’. Then it would be fair enough, but he’s almost tried to put it on Ben White and said ‘blame him, not me’ and that’s not really fair in my eyes.

“He’s done a lot of good for England in uniting the players, the press and the fans but just be honest about it, don’t put it all on Ben.”

White has emerged as one of Arsenal’s key players since withdrawing from England contention and would likely have earned his place in last summer’s Euros squad on merit had he been available for selection.

It remains to be seen if he will change his stance under Tuchel, who will take charge of his first Three Lions match during the next international break in March.