Sport
Were Arsenal right to spend £50m on Ben White?
Arsenal signing Ben White from Brighton is one of the biggest deals to have been completed in the Premier League’s summer transfer window so far.
The England international bolsters a back line that is without David Luiz as Arsenal seek to return to European football after missing out entirely on qualification last term. But a £50 million outlay for a player who was on loan at Newport County of League Two a couple of years ago has raised eyebrows, especially as Arsenal had the league’s third-best defence in 2020-21. The price tag on White is not his fault, of course, but could it weigh heavily on his shoulders?
White has long been identified as a major talent. When Brighton sent him on loan to Leeds United two years ago, he became one of the most impressive players in the Championship. A ball-playing centre-back, he looks an ideal replacement for the error-prone Luiz, who left the club at the end of his contract. That left a hole in the back line that White will surely be asked to fill.
For all the faults of Luiz, his playmaking abilities from the back was a major part of how Mikel Arteta wanted the Gunners to play. Ben White will have to mirror those key attributes of the Brazil international while avoiding the kind of mistakes that characterised Luiz’s career at Arsenal.
According to Opta statistics, Luiz made four errors leading to an opposition shot in the past two seasons. Despite playing nearly 30 more games in that period – albeit with many of them in the Championship – White has not recorded a mistake leading to an opposition shot in two years. White is quicker than Luiz too, so his recovery speed allows Arsenal to defend with a high line.
Delving into the data shows White completed 83.2 per cent of his passes in the Premier League last season, slightly below Luiz on 83.5 per cent. But despite playing slightly fewer passes per game, White recorded double the number of key passes as Luiz. He also embarked on an average of 0.7 dribbles per game, far more than Luiz. Ben White had the most successful dribbles of any centre-back in the Premier League, showing the extra layers that he has to his game which will surely prove invaluable for Arsenal.
Opta data also shows that Ben White was top of the class for carries with take ons last season, indicating an extreme level of comfort on the ball that should act as reassurance for Arsenal. While White is happy in possession, he also has a physical edge after cutting his teeth in the Football League across a trio of loan spells. He made more interceptions per game last term than any Arsenal centre-back, showing fine defensive instincts his new team-mates may lack.
White will primarily be used in the heart of defence but his versatility is also one of the reasons Arsenal were so keen to sign him. He can fill in as a full-back or step up into the midfield, with the latter option more likely to be explored by Arteta, especially if he opts to use a back four. But did Arsenal need him?
White is without a doubt an excellent player and he will likely be an upgrade on Luiz, potentially a substantial one as he continues to develop. But it is fair to ask if Arsenal, whose 12 clean sheets last term was the same as Brighton’s record in the Premier League, really needed to buy him.
Rob Holding has proven to be a surprisingly capable defender for the Gunners and they also have William Saliba, who they signed to great fanfare but have allowed to join Marseille on loan. Calum Chambers also forced his way into the side in the second half of the season, albeit at right-back over Hector Bellerin, when he would prefer to operate in a more central position.
Arteta can also call upon Gabriel Magalhaes and Pablo Mari, while Scotland international Kieran Tierney is capable of playing on the left side of a back three. He may now feature in that role more often after the arrival of left-back Nuno Tavares from Benfica in a deal worth £8 million.
Arteta is not short of defensive options. Ben White could therefore be argued to be something of a luxury addition for Arsenal, especially for a hefty fee. With Arsenal not even having Europa League Conference football to look forward to this term, the club coffers are not exactly overflowing. This is a club that made their mascot – the popular Gunnarsaurus – redundant not long ago.
Arsenal’s transfer budget this summer will be relatively small as a result and White surely represents a big chunk of it. He will need to have the same sort of transformative impact that Premier League Player of the Season Ruben Dias brought to Manchester City last season to justify the investment, especially if it means Arsenal cannot afford to address some glaring weaknesses in their squad before the window shuts, such as the lack of a defensive midfielder.
Arsenal may not regret buying Ben White, but the £50m fee paid to Brighton is certainly questionable.
You could earn up to £10 (or currency equivalent) in bonus funds by joining Colossus with our New Player Bonus. Click here to join the action.
