Ben White

White's first match at the London Road Stadium was also his first League One appearance where he came on in the 88th minute to replace Joe Ward in a 2–1 victory over Rochdale on 12 January.

Benjamin William White (born 8 October 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Arsenal and the England national team.

Mainly a right-back, he can also play as a centre-back.

White began his senior club career at age 18 in 2016 with Brighton & Hove Albion.

He spent time with Newport County, Peterborough United, and Leeds United on successive loans between 2016 and 2019.

He subsequently played in the four professional English leagues, and won the Championship with Leeds.

After a season with Brighton, White was the subject of a club record association football transfer when he signed for Arsenal in 2021 in a transfer worth up to £50 million, becoming their most expensive defender.

White made his senior international debut for England in 2021 at the age of 23, and was selected as part of their squads for UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Born in Poole, Dorset, White started his youth career at Southampton before being released at the age of 16, after eight years at the club.

He was signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, following interest from Bristol City and Leicester City, where he initially joined their academy.

For the first league match of the 2016–17 season on 6 August 2016, White was an unused substitute in a 0–0 draw away to Derby County.

White made his professional football debut three days later on 9 August, playing the entire game of the first round EFL Cup match in a 4–0 home victory over Colchester United.

White continued to be an unused substitute in the next three league games against Nottingham Forest, Rotherham United and Reading.

His second start for Brighton came in the next round of the EFL Cup again playing the whole match away against Oxford United on 23 August, where Brighton won 4–2.

White was once again an unused substitute on 18 March 2017, this time against Leeds United.

White also appeared 3 times during the EFL Trophy before Brighton U21s were eliminated in round three by Coventry City.

On 1 August 2017, White signed for League Two club Newport County on loan until the end of the 2017–18 season in what was described by manager Michael Flynn as a "big coup for the club."

White made his debut for Newport on 8 August 2017 in a 2–0 victory over Southend United in the first round of the EFL Cup.

He made his debut on 12 August 2017 in a 1–1 draw versus Crewe Alexandra.

White scored his first career goal on 21 November for Newport against Barnet in a 2–1 home defeat.

On 7 January 2018, White started for Newport in a 2–1 home win over Championship club Leeds United in the FA Cup third round, which meant Newport progressed to the FA Cup fourth round for the first time since the 1978–79 FA Cup.

In the following round, Newport were drawn at home to Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur.

On 27 January 2018, White started the match as Newport drew 1–1 to force a replay at Tottenham's temporary home ground Wembley Stadium, with White praised for his performance against Harry Kane.

On 15 March 2018, White won the South Wales Argus Player of the Year Award for Newport for the 2017–18 season.

At the awards ceremony, manager Michael Flynn described White as "the best loan signing the club has ever made."

After being linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur after initially rejecting a new contract offer at Brighton, White did sign a new long-term contract extension at Brighton in April 2018.

At the start of the 2018–19 season, then-Brighton manager Chris Hughton stated that White would be the club's fourth-choice centre-back behind Lewis Dunk, Shane Duffy and Leon Balogun.

White however was a regular for Brighton U23s.

On 26 November 2018, he set up three goals in the Premier League 2 Division 1 to help Brighton U23s to come from 2–0 down to win 3–2 against Swansea City U23s.

White made the bench for the Premier League for the first time on 8 December 2018, where Brighton lost 1–0 away to Burnley.

White remained an unused substitute.

On 3 January 2019, White signed for League One club Peterborough United on loan until the end of the season.

He made his debut for Peterborough on 5 January 2019 in a 5–0 away loss to Middlesbrough in the third round of the FA Cup.

White scored his first goal for Peterborough – and first in League One – scoring the second goal in a 2–0 home win over Southend United on 23 March 2019.

White played in the final game of the season which Peterborough won 3–1 at home to Burton Albion.

However, with Doncaster Rovers winning their match, Peterborough missed out on a play-off spot.

White finished his loan spell making 16 appearances in all competitions, scoring once.

On 1 July 2019, White signed for Championship club Leeds United on loan until the end of the season.

On the same day, White signed a new one-year contract extension at Brighton.

He was given the number 5 shirt ahead of the 2019–20 season, and made his debut on 4 August in Leeds' opening day 3–1 victory against Bristol City.