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‘Weird’… Cesc Fabregas suggests Arsenal have a 26-year-old player who is very rare in the game
Cesc Fabregas has suggested that one current Arsenal star is quite unique in the sport, insisting that you do not see one of his personality traits very often in football.
Of course, no player not currently away on international duty right now appears to have been discussed more over the last few days than Ben White.
Gareth Southgate confirmed that the 26-year-old had decided that he did not want to be considered for England selection ahead of this international break.
It comes after White returned home early from the 2022 World Cup. The Gunners defender has not represented his country since.
On form alone, White is definitely worthy of a call-up. But with this decision, it now looks to be hard to imagine him featuring in England’s squad for Euro 2024 at the end of this season.
Cesc Fabregas shares how Ben White is unique in the game
It does appear that we will never know all of the facts surrounding White’s decision to not play for England. Nor should we, in truth. But one of the talking points surrounding him is the fact that .
There is no evidence that there is a connection between White’s love of the game and his decision to take himself out of England contention. But that does not stop the speculation.
Speaking on , Cesc Fabregas suggested that it is strange when someone does not have that passion for the game as a whole, but insisted that that is not a reason to criticise a player.
“I think it’s the society where we live in at the moment. And I go back again to what I always say it’s all about the money. Footballers get paid a lot of money. And it feels like they should all be focusing on football, no matter what. And they should be an example for everything, and you cannot make mistakes. Every error is being punished, double or triple a normal human-being. It’s the life we are in. One that we have to accept, one that we need to carry on our shoulders. And that’s it,” he said.
“I know plenty of guys, and of course, I will not mention names, that they finish training sessions and they just want to go home because they don’t really love football. They love playing football, they really enjoy it, the competition. They are competitors, they are winners. They like the moment, that hour and a half, two hours of being there. But after that, they don’t watch football. They don’t want anything to do with football. It is weird. It is not something that happens very often. Maybe only five percent of the players are like that. But it is what it is, and we have to respect it.”
Arsenal star has worked his way to the very top
White’s critics will potentially argue that that love of the game is needed. But if anything, it makes his journey all the more remarkable.
Before playing for Arsenal, White had played in all of the top four divisions in English football. That cannot have been easy. And if he was not driven to be the best player he could be, he would not have put himself through that.
Anyone who has watched Arsenal over the last 18 months knows just what playing for the Gunners means to the defender. And the fact that many of Europe’s best teams would target White if he became available tells its own story.
There are plenty of examples. But when you see how White celebrated the penalty shootout win over Porto in the Champions League, you realise that it really does not matter if he has football on his mind or not when he is away from London Colney and the Emirates.