Mikel Arteta set to give Arsenal ‘new signing’ a fresh start after £50m nightmare

Ben White could hardly have had a more frustrating and disappointing 2024/25 season. He played just 26 times for a little over 1,500 league minutes in all competitions. It was a marked drop-off from his senior career to date.

It is the fewest he has managed since spending the second half of the 2018/19 season on loan at Peterborough. There, he was practically undroppable but only from January, hence the limit to his game time.

Either side, via loans at Newport County as a teenager in League Two, or in the Championship at Leeds United, White was almost ever-present. In fact, as Leeds got promoted, he was.

White did not miss a single minute under Marcelo Bielsa and went on to make the step up to the Premier League just as seamlessly. Within four seasons he had gone from League Two to top flight. It was a step up each time and perhaps no surprise that Arsenal were willing to spend £50million on him in 2021.

The price attracted plenty of attention but White had shown what the promise was all about. It wasn’t until Mikel Arteta moved him to right-back that things really settled. White was still a regular and played 32 league matches in his first season at Arsenal, but he became central to the new-look team of 2022/23 as a full-back.

In back-to-back campaigns he missed just one league game, starting 71 out of 76. He clocked more than 6,000 minutes in the league alone. By that stage he had played 20,000 minutes in eight seasons. Maybe it shouldn’t come as a shock that his body struggled throughout last year.

White missed three months after having knee surgery in November but had been playing through pain prior to that. When he did return, it lasted briefly.

His season was intermittent and stop-start. Twice, towards the end, he came back for a single game only to miss the next one. His involvement in the Champions League knockout stage was reduced to one start and five substitute appearances, mostly in the final stages.

It has no question been the most underwhelming period for White since breaking through as a young centre-back eight years ago. When he returns, the Arsenal defence will be in a bit of a shuffle.

Although personnel-wise, there aren’t set to be major changes, the organisation will differ. Jurrien Timber was increasingly used as a right-back last season, both due to White’s absence and because Myles Lewis-Skelly acquitted himself so well on the left.

Having been left with little cover previously, Arteta now has plenty of options. Even with Riccardo Calafiori struggling to maintain fitness, there are three firm and strong full-back options for two spots. Takehiro Tomiyasu cannot be included in that number after his season ended before October.

It is telling, though, that White has played such little football with Lewis-Skelly (under 500 minutes in all competitions) and Timber. Both are arguably in Arteta’s strongest XI, which creates depth and competition, but White has rarely been on the field with them.

After a full summer off, without even the distraction of questions over if he will be in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for a major tournament, for now, White will have the chance to return to Arsenal next season and effectively be a new signing. He has been a key member of this team before and will now have to win his place back over Timber.

The Dutchman was extremely versatile for Arteta last year, playing on the right and left as injuries dictated. Primarily he was signed as a right-back, but he settled well on either flank.

It will be a new challenge for White to really compete against Timber, something he hasn’t had to do since moving to the Emirates Stadium. Arteta is sure to give him the time and chance to do so, though. If White can stay fit and get back to his best then it will be like having a new signing available.