Arsenal have finally completed the highly-anticipated signing of Ben White from Brighton, and Mikel Arteta has given his thoughts on his new signing.
The 23 year-old will immediately join up with the senior squad as he prepares for the season ahead, and could well get his first taste of action on Sunday when our side takes on Champions League winners Chelsea at the Emirates.
White will have to wait on official confirmation from the powers that be with the regulatory process needing to finalize the paperwork, but this should all be a formality at this point, although the timeframe on that varies.
Manager Mikel Arteta is pleased that his side has moved to land their ‘top target’ however, and moved to praise his qualities.
Arteta said(via Arsenal Media): “Ben was a top target for us and it’s great that we’ve completed his signing. Ben has been educated with two very good clubs, Brighton and Leeds, in recent seasons. He has benefitted well from two very good coaching set-ups and has shown with both Brighton and on loan with Leeds what a strong talent he is.
“Ben is an intelligent defender who is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his style fits perfectly with us. And of course, he is still young, so his age and profile fits with what we are building here. We are all looking forward to Ben being central to our future long-term plans.”
It will be exciting to see what White can bring to our defence this season, and I hope that his purchase price doesn’t add any unnecessary pressures on the former Brighton man.
With Arsenal wrapping up their transfer activity nice and early in the window, will the players be much more settled by the time the Premier League season gets underway?
Patrick