Arsenal reach agreement for Ben White
According to David Ornstein, Arsenal have reached an agreement with Brighton and Hove Albion regarding defender Ben White.
Arsenal’s interest in the 23-year-old was already reported by The Athletic last month. Now the negotiations have finally reached the intended destination.
The recent report further stated: The agreement is subject to a medical, with the fee understood to be in the region of £50 million.
Strengthening the right-side of the center back position was high on manager Mikel Arteta’s agenda, even though they boast one of the most coveted young defenders in William Saliba.
There was belief inside the club that the player who will tick their required boxes would come at a considerable price.
The Gunners explored the idea of signing either of Jules Kounde from Spanish side Sevilla or Edmond Tapsoba from Bayern Leverkusen. However, as soon as it became clear that it would not be probable to land either this summer, they moved in fast for White.
The former Leeds United man has been a subject of major interest from some of the biggest clubs in Europe, and Arsenal’s quick pursue fielded them as frontrunners from early on.
Now the conclusion on the deal has been reached where the Brighton star will become the most expensive defender in the history of Arsenal Football Club.
Medicals are expected to take place after the defender completes his delayed vacations due to participation in the European Championships.
Although he didn’t make a single appearance in the tournament, his recent rise to prominence can continue further. It won’t be a surprise if he establishes himself as a regular in the England national team.
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I am highly pleased about the news. Albert Sambi Lokonga will soon be announced and that makes our summer incomings count to three. But the work is far from over. Technical Director Edu has massive job in his hand, not just at the incomings front but the outgoings too.
There is no time to rest on the laurels, and the Gunners should move in for their next target as soon as possible.
White is a quality player but at 50m is overpriced
Konate and Upamenco were signed for less than 32m
Yes, but I think the club just need to buy quality prayer at all cost we have the money, let spent it may be the reward will come later.
pay them whatever they wants just like Fifa21?
English players cost more because they are home grown.
He’s hg. Think Iwobi, oxlade or even Walcott. Hg players carry a premium because you need 5 in your 22 rotation and 3+ spare after that.
The 3+ spare can only be hg too or in the prem under 21 but that doesn’t count for Europe… So.
Rubbish transfer. An absolute waste of £50M. Man, Arteta is 10 times worse than Wenger.
Let’s keep the judgements to one side.
I think only time can tell if we overpaid or not.
We knew Arsenal will sign Ben White at the end of the day but we should be targeting and signing big name players.If we can get Locatelli or Neves to replace Xhaka n then Maddison,I think we are good to for the new season.
I would give Arsenal a 5/10 if we sign White and Lokonga after Tavares (which looks likely). A good RB, goalkeeper, CM and CAM + outgoings would make it a super window.
👍 Yash, maybe Ben White has been signed as a DM?
Or a right back?
Cb
Even with all those signings and outgoings, only time can tell if it’s a super window or not. Maybe, everyone can keep their judgement to one side.
What is funny is that Mavropanos, a beast, almost same age, was sold for 7m !!! 👍 We will see him becoming an even bigger beast maybe like we saw Gnabry, Malen, bennacer, Martinez thrive away from us.
I regarded him highly too. And it’s not 7m it’s somewhere around 5.
Yash, the powers to be will be crowing about making a profit on Mavropanos, even if small. It is a rare occurrence for Arsenal.
And all the powers be in entire world football Didn’t want mavro at a bargain?
I agree. It’s a lot of money and we should have found a cheaper option and used the money for another position
If he comes then we need to support him regardless of how much we paid though
This is the typical arsenal fans of today, criticized every signings and moan when we miss anyone to a rival.
Ben white is an England defender that beat the price mark,we complained about Buendia because we miss him now we are complaining about price. .all you guys want is Arteta sacked even if it cost losing matches. Very bad n negative attitude to start the league
Lol… how dare you speak so much sense and not overreact over a signing we need?
👍👍Yeah… It’s becoming Just Whingeing. I just listen to the arsenal podcasts now.. much better analysis and funnier… Ben White is a great signing and his versatility to play as dm or right back is a big plus.
Nobody else came in for the injury prone Mavro.. Epl proven is probably most important in central defence.
I think Saliba hasn’t been handled well but sitting on the bench or just being part of the squad isn’t enough for him
. Needs a proper full season somewhere.
Who is criticizing the signing in itself ? Personally i like this signing but the price is a bit high it seems when you see us selling mavropanos, same position for 7m. I am sorry to tell you but we are doing some bad business. Look at Martinez sold 20. We went for runarsson for 1.8 which is a disaster. And now we are stuck with the same problem we had for years of finding a very good keeper that could be a cornerstone. Sheffield want 35 for ramsdale, who is not at all on Emi level… now we may offload Chaka for half the price he cost. For a player who proved his value at the euro. i want arsenal to win, i don’t want arteta being sacked (at least unless this fall/end of year if the run is bad). But facts are that we can be sick about our business… since Arteta arrived we made huge transfer mistakes with Martinez/Leno, Willian…
Some fans moan a lot. That’s very true!
Facts @emmy. A small portion of fans just want to complain about M.A. Please support Arsenal durning the bad times , just like you do when its the good times. If not, im sure the spurs got seat open for you.
emmy, it’s just that some of us see Arsenal’s priorities being in other positions rather than £50 million for a CB. If by the end of the transfer window Arsenal has upgraded the midfield with a class DM and ACM, the concerns should disappear.
That’s the vibe I get too
50m may seem steep, but he’s 23 and will only get better.. We’ll certainly get our money’s worth!
Bring it on, looking forward to seeing him in red and white.
Me too!!!
Some fans always talk about the 50m we are paying for White. Wenger was against buying overpriced English talents and we complain.
Some talk about Malen, Bennacer and Martinez as bad business but they forget Akpom, Chris Willock and Zelalem. Some released players may excel at different clubs, some may not.
We got Bergkamp who was nobody at Inter but became a legend here. It’s normal.
Yes, Edu and MA have their flaws but they are humans as we are, and we all make mistakes.
It’s not by force to support arsenal. You can join another club if you want but let’s give those in charge the benefit of the doubt and stop spreading all these negativity.
White hasn’t kicked a ball but most of us are saying it’s a bad business.
The negativity is too much!
Hey Phenom, I don’t know why you replied to my comment as I wasn’t spreading negativity!!
What I was hinting at was look at how long he’ll be with us – and as I said will only get better – so 50m could very well be a bargain!! He’s for the long-term, no more stopgaps, love it!
No hard feelings Sue!
It wasn’t you dear. I know you are just. Sorry.
I understand your frustrations completely, Phenom (& thank you 😊)
Phenom you are right on some things. But how letting akpom or Chris willock a good business that compensates all the mistakes of last 10 years ? There were mistakes. We built the stadium and some money arrived in the PL (Chelsea, Man city) but that can’t explain 100% of our decline from a top 2 team to playing 7/8 position
Spot on that alot of fans are just too pessimistic.
Phenom, Dennis Bergkamp was never a “nobody at Inter Milan”. The style of football, formation and selfishness of players at the club at the time was different to what he had thrived under at Ajax Amsterdam, with “total football”.
As Ian Wright stated “Dennis Bergkamp is the best transfer signing Arsenal has made or is ever likely to make.”
One can only hope that Ben White turns out half as good for the Club.
Couldn’t agree more!
PHENOM.you say bergkamp was nobody at inter !!!. i seem to remember it totally differently to you . what i remember is a world class player coming to us from inter. i have never heard such poppycock in my life. obviously, you are trying to get a rise out of one or two readers on here, i love it.
This is not a balanced response. Bergkamp was respected internationally but he was by no means a success at Inter.
It may have been a tad unfair but some (in Italy, many) did indeed consider him a failure at Inter.
Phenom’s description may be harsh, but consider this: 11 goals over 2 seasons. Those are not world class figures for a striker.
Personally I’m delighted with this signing. I do think we are slightly over paying but in a years time we could be saying what a bargain! Utd bought maguire for a £80m. It’s all about context people!
👍 Happy days!
Where is the like button when you need it?
Undermine wat arsenal fans are saying,I think we made a good signing there.His versatility and quickly interception standing out.As for Arsenal fans is most toxic fans on earth
From What I’ve seen from both white and Saliba I would have to go with the player we are loaning out especially as we are forking out 50 million on white ,I would expect a world class player for that amount not a work in progress so I hope I’m wrong and mr Arteta as got his priorities right on this one .
To me it looks like our manager likes to not be forced to play players that he inherited so if it does goes tits up on this one then there can be no doubt who is to blame along with whoever else he brings in .
This season is on Arteta no more blaming ex managers and the owner ,he is getting backed and supported form the club.
I’ll preface my response by stating that, if this deal done and dusted, as some appear to suggest, I obviously hope that he comes good and that some day he’s actually plying his trade along side our once highly-regarded defensive prospect, Saliba…that said, logic would strongly suggest otherwise…I concur with your sentiments DK, in that Arteta has neither displayed the required managerial acumen, nor has he the requisite experience to be given the benefit of the doubt, especially considering the potential financial and developmental implications of just such a move…personally, I believe this move is more about him trying to make up for lost time, which was entirely self-inflicted, due to his lack of fortitude and foresight following last season…all I know is that if this move negatively affects our ability to properly address our much more pressing needs in the midfield and at RB, the ramifications, both short-term and long, could be devastating
deal is done…
This is what I call an EXCELLENT signing at the right price.
Those who think it’s too much money are clearly not Arsenal fans.
If anyone is comfortable watching the likes of Holding and Gabriel “hoofing” the ball at a top club, then they’re typically not Arsenal fans.
All I can now say is we’re at least moving in the right direction,,, transfer-wise.
Let’s get the like button back cause this deserves one.
Ben white accepting to join Arsenal at their lowest is worth applauding and Arteta better be right about this guy. We can all recall when liverpool bought vigil, it was argued that he isn’t worth the price paid but now he’s justified the amount expended on him. And I think ben is also a quality defender as well as an upgrade on Rob holding but he isn’t better than Chambers.
Agree on everything apart from the Chambers line. I think Ben White is a more rounded player than Chambers.
Fantastic news, leagues above any cb we have in our ranks including Sailba and the almighty Mavranpos who ended up at a second rate German team even though he was Maldini reincarnated according to some fans on here. Premier league proven already won a championship so he has more medals than 90% of our team. Will make an immediate impact and will get 10 plus years top quality service from the young man and he seems a likeable lad from the noises coming out the england camp. Next up Locatelli or Neves and then Maddsion or Aouar.
With a major chunk of our transfer resource locked up in this Ben White deal, there is a possibility of may be one (or no) more PL ready player to be signed this summer. We simply don’t have the depth in our squad to compete with the clubs that finished in the top four last season. Without European distractions this season, we can build a solid foundation for the future by integrating the new signings and the players promoted from the academy in the next 3-4 months.
May be Ben White is our first step towards that goal.
i seem to remember a lot of football fans rolling their eyes and shaking their heads when liverpool paid out so much money for virgil. what say they now to that massive fee. in my opinion it is chicken feed pure and simple , for what they got. so lets hope we might be as lucky.
The case of Virgil and Ben is not that much similar in my opinion. Virgil was already proven, while Ben is at most, a wildcard now. There is every chance that he does well, as is also that he will flop. People need to understand that not all fans think in a similar direction, and should try to stop earning brownie points by calling others not fans. I am happy with the signing. Just hope he hits the ground running and does not peter off like Gabriel last year.