With half of the Groups in the World already decided, with which teams go forward to the knockouts and which ones are on the plane journey home, there has not been one country with an Arsenal player in it that has been eliminated yet.
But today, we are hearing that Arsenal’s right-back Ben White, who is yet to kick a ball for England is on his way home “for personal reasons”. It was reported that he was not in contention to play against Wales because of “illness”, but it now appears that there was another reason, and he has quickly arranged to return to the UK.
The English FA quickly reported it and asked for Ben’s privacy to be respected…..
England FA Statement
Ben White has left England’s training base in Al Wakrah and returned home for personal reasons.
The Arsenal defender is not expected to return to the squad for the remainder of the tournament.
We ask that the player’s privacy is respected at this moment in time.
Arsenal themselves simply said in a statement: “We’re all with you, Ben.”
I am sure that there will be lots of speculation for the reasons behind his departure, but we at JustArsenal will be not be joining in and we will be respecting his privacy. I just hope that he resolves his problems and is able to rejoin the Arsenal squad before the season resumes…