BEN WHITE'S AGENT ISSUES PASSIONATE PLEA ABOUT ARSENAL STAR'S 'NEGATIVE' TREATMENT

Ben White's agent Alexander Levack has urged football fans to "be kind" in the face of what he has described as negative attention coming the way of his client.

Arsenal defender White, 26, scored twice for his club on Tuesday night as they moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a 5-0 victory over Chelsea. However, the former Brighton talent remains in the international wildesness with England boss Gareth Southgate indicating White had made himself unavailable for selection.

Writing on LinkedIn on Wednesday, in a post which was public at the time of writing, Levack pointed to his client's "great performance" in the previous evening's victory. While he didn't specify the nature of the media attention to which he was referring, he spoke of its often "negative" nature.

White, who joined Arsenal from Brighton in 2021, signed a new long-term contract with the club in March. The four goals he has scored this term represent a career high, and come against the backdrop of being forced - as Levack puts it - to "block out all the noise".

"I feel compelled to write this today after such a great performance last night, and all season for that matter, from client Ben White," Levack wrote. "For the past 4 weeks Ben has been in the press and media a great deal in that time with a large percentage of that being negative.

"Whilst I appreciate that Ben is in the public eye which brings it’s own connotations and leaves you open to criticism I wanted to make the point that every elite performer, whichever field that may be, is a human being who has the same feeling we all have and experience good and bad. No one knows what is actually going on in one’s life so I really believe people should think before making a judgement or criticising these elite performers in public.

"Ben has shown unbelievable robustness and strength throughout this adverse period off the pitch and has blocked out all the noise and has performed incredibly well on the pitch, in a situation where many others could have and would have wilted. Ben has an incredible temperament and attitude which allows him the ability to navigate through his working and personal life. I suppose the main message is be kind to people as you do not have the full facts, which in Ben’s case neither Ben nor I wish to vocalise publicly, and do not know what is going on in peoples personal lives so again please be kind."

What have you made of Ben White's performances this season? Have your say in the comments section

White wasn't involved in the March internationals, though his club team-mates Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka were called up. Gareth Southgate hasn't brought the defender back into the fold since White left the 2022 World Cup camp early, but suggested the door is open if and when he wants to return.

"It's really for Ben now," Southgate said at the end of March. "Dec [Rice] is obviously in a difficult situation you're asking him about a team-mate and he's going to be careful what he says. As I've said to you, the door is open for us.

"That's clearly difficult ahead of the Euros, where you've got players that have played all the way through but we have no idea of knowing who's going to be available in that area of the pitch.

"I respected the situation as Arsenal have contacted us. So in the end, I know the conversation I had with him last March. I felt I should back away from it a little bit. But I've always left the door open. I was keen to bring him in this camp."

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2024-04-24T16:50:26Z dg43tfdfdgfd