Arsenal closing in on £50m deal for Ben White - and dynamic defender can offer new dimension

Arsenal are close to reaching an agreement with Brighton for England defender Ben White in a move that could be worth up to £50 million.

White has emerged as a key target for Arsenal, who are keen to strengthen their defence following the departure of David Luiz at the end of last season.

The 23-year-old impressed last year in his first season in the Premier League, playing a variety of roles for Graham Potter’s side and earning a surprise call-up to the England squad ahead of the European Championship.

White’s versatility means he could line up as a right-back or central midfielder for Mikel Arteta’s side but his favoured role is as a centre-back.

If the final details of the transfer fee can be agreed, as expected, then White will become one of Arsenal’s most expensive ever signings. They have only twice spent more than £50m on a player, in the deals for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£57m from Borussia Dortmund) and Nicolas Pepe (£72m from Lille).

White will compete with the likes of Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers for a place in Arteta’s side. Young defender William Saliba is also due to be involved in the first-team squad next season, although his future remains uncertain amid interest from France.

It is a sign of White’s progress at Brighton this season that this potential move comes a year after his club rejected a £25m offer from Leeds United for his services.

White represented Peterborough United in League One for a year before he spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Leeds and was seen as one of the best ball-playing defenders in the Championship during his time under Marcelo Bielsa’s management. White played every minute of that campaign at Leeds and started 36 of 38 league games for Brighton last season.

Progressive, ball-playing defender can create space for attacking team-mates

Analysis by Sam Dean

Arsenal’s pursuit of Brighton defender Ben White, and their willingness to spend around £50m on a centre-back, is a sign of how Mikel Arteta intends to evolve his team next season.

As a progressive, ball-playing defender, White would be the obvious replacement for the departed David Luiz, who left the club earlier this summer. Despite his flaws, and his struggles with fitness, Luiz was always one of the first names on Arteta’s team sheet, largely because he offered so much more with the ball than Arsenal’s other defenders.

Arsenal’s defensive record was by no means a major problem last season: they actually conceded the third fewest goals in the Premier League, behind Chelsea and Manchester City. When Luiz was absent, though, they often struggled to build attacks from the back.

With his excellent passing range, White should be able to fill the void left by the Brazilian when it comes to opening up opposition defences. In some ways, his arrival (if a deal can be finalised) would therefore be more exciting from an attacking point of view than from a defensive perspective.

This is not to say that White is a like-for-like replacement for Luiz. Arsenal will hope for far more from the 23-year-old, and he certainly has more strings to his bow than the man he might be replacing.

Firstly, White would bring some much-needed speed to a backline that has often looked ponderous. Rob Holding, David Luiz and Pablo Mari lack pace, especially when turned, and this has not helped Arteta as he has attempted to introduce a high line.

Secondly, White has shown in his time at Brighton, and even more so during his spell at Leeds United in the 2019/20 season, that he is capable of dribbling the ball out of defence. White is happy to commit players, taking risks at the back in order to unbalance the opposition and create space for his attacking team-mates.

None of Arsenal’s current centre-backs offer this sort of dynamism in possession. White completed 0.68 dribbles per game in the Premier League last season — more than any other Arsenal defender, including their full-backs.

White also brings versatility. He can play in central midfield (a position where Arsenal are already short, even before the likely exit of Granit Xhaka) and at right-back, and he is comfortable in both a back three and a back four.

For Brighton, and Leeds before them, White proved remarkably durable. He played every minute in the Championship for Leeds in 19/20, and started 36 of 38 league games for Brighton last year.

For all these qualities that White will bring, for Arsenal supporters the most exciting aspect of his possible arrival might be the sense that this is a new direction for the club’s transfer policy.

In the last few years it has become exceedingly rare for Arsenal to sign young British talent. Since 2015 it is only Rob Holding (£2m from Bolton) and Kieran Tierney (£25m from Celtic) who have ticked this box, and both have been unquestionably successful signings. Before that, Arsenal fans have to think all the way back to the 2014/15 season, when Danny Welbeck and Calum Chambers were signed.

In the meantime, Arsenal have spent huge sums of money on players who have either needed time to adapt, or never adapted at all. Arsenal have largely failed to find players with resale value, instead watching with growing despair as their new arrivals gradually lost value with each shaky performance.

White, by contrast, is a player who knows the league and has proved himself capable of handling the physical demands of English football. His recent call-up to the England squad is proof that he has the technical ability to match his obvious physical attributes, and the hope at Arsenal is that he could help to bring a new dimension to Arteta’s side.