England manager Gareth Southgate has reportedly touched base with Arsenal defender Ben White to gauge his interest in a recall to the national team.
Having impressed during the first couple of months of the 2022-23 season at right-back, White earned a call-up to the England squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
However, the 25-year-old was already below Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker in the pecking order, and he was an unused substitute in their first two group games with Iran and the USA.
Prior to England's final group match with Wales, it was announced that White would be leaving the camp due to personal reasons, and he did not return to the Middle East for the remainder of the World Cup.
It was alleged that White had fallen out with assistant coach Steve Holland and also struggled to gel with the rest of the squad, but no official explanation was given, and Southgate refused to comment on such reports at the time.
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Since his mysterious departure from the World Cup, White has remained a consistent presence in the heart of the Arsenal backline under Mikel Arteta, scoring two goals and posting five assists in 37 Premier League games this season.
The former Brighton & Hove Albion man has only failed to start two top-flight matches in 2022-23, and his exploits have helped Arsenal seal a return to the Champions League with a second-placed finish.
Four months on from his World Cup exit, White was also left out of the England squad for their opening Euro 2024 qualifying battles with Italy and Ukraine at the end of March.
The Three Lions will continue their Group C campaign with clashes against Malta and North Macedonia in June, and the Daily Mail reports that White could be in line for a recall.
The report claims that Southgate has sounded out the Arsenal man to see whether he would be interested in returning to the fold, and the door is open for him to do so thanks to his stellar domestic season.
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England are set to be without Chelsea's Reece James for June's fixtures due to his thigh injury, while Walker is apparently unlikely to travel to Malta on June 16 due to Manchester City's participation in the Champions League final on June 10.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has enjoyed a strong end to the season with Liverpool, but the 23-year-old has been deployed in a hybrid midfield role by Jurgen Klopp over the past few weeks.
White made his first two senior England appearances in friendly wins over Austria and Romania in June 2021 and was subsequently called up to their Euro 2020 squad, but he did not play a single minute at the tournament.
Since then, the versatile defender has only played another two games for the Three Lions, starting in two friendly wins over Switzerland and Ivory Coast in March 2022.
Southgate will name his England squad for June's Euro 2024 qualifiers on Wednesday.
Ben Knapton
