Gareth Southgate reveals Ben White asked to be left out of England squad and doesn't know why

England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that Arsenal called him to insist Ben White did not want to be in the last team.

Gunners star White was once again a glaring omission from Southgate's team for the next friendlies against Brazil and Belgium.

The versatile defender has been in excellent form for the Premier League leaders, but Southgate has revealed why the likes of Joe Gomez and Jarrad Branthwaite were selected.

He said: “We had a call from Edu (Arsenal sporting director) last week saying that Ben did not want to be considered for the England teams at the moment.

“I spoke to him after Qatar and there was reluctance on his part. I don't know why, but I respect him. I leave the door open because he is a good player.

“There is no problem between us and there is no problem with (assistant principal) Steve Holland, who has been mentioned in articles and I don't like that.

“I have to accept that there are false things about me, but I'm not prepared for that to happen to my coaching staff. That's not the reason Ben is not with us.”

Speaking about Everton star Branthwaite, Southgate said: “He has played consistently well.

“We saw him as a substitute centre-back for the under-21 team. If you had said a year ago that he would play constantly in the Premier League, I would have been surprised.

“Credit goes to (Everton manager) Sean Dyche. He has merit. We're looking forward to having a look at him.”

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White was part of the England squad that traveled to Qatar in 2022 for the World Cup, but left days later for personal reasons.

He Arsenal star, who signed a new contract with the gunners on Thursday, has not been called up by England since.

Southgate has continually denied rumors of a rift between White and his coaching staff.

The Three Lions boss has also insisted that the former Brighton star is more of a centre-back than a full-back, despite starring at right-back for Arsenal this season.

And Southgate is happy with his central defense selections, with Harry Maguire and Juan Piedras firmly the first option.

However, the England manager made some surprise call-ups to his squad this week, and Gomez was called up to the squad after enjoying a good spell with Liverpool.

“Firstly, it's great to see him playing regularly for Liverpool and he's such a lovely lad. I've known him since the under-17 team won in Malta when he was at Charlton,” Southgate added.

“We love working with Joe, we are delighted to see him playing again and we look forward to seeing him next week.”

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Asked if there is no turning back for White, Southgate insisted: “I want that door wide open. He would be in this team but he is not available to us.”

White has four England caps and was last part of the Euro squad in 2021, when the Three Lions reached the final.

However, the defender remained an unused substitute throughout the tournament.