Thomas Tuchel insists Ben White will hold clear-the-air talks with England squad to address World Cup exit

Thomas Tuchel has told talkSPORT that Ben White will hold talks with the England squad following his return to the Three Lions set-up.

The Arsenal defender was called up to the England squad for the first time since 2022 for the upcoming friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

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White, who was not part of Tuchel initial squad for March’s fixtures, was drafted in as a replacement for Jarell Quansah who pulled out with a thigh injury.

And now the 28-year-old has the opportunity to stake a late claim ahead of this summer’s World Cup, seemingly at the expense of the out-of-favour Trent Alexander-Arnold.

But before White clocks up his fifth cap for England, he must address the elephant in the room.

White noise

White placed a self-imposed exile on himself after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

He left the England squad and returned to the UK following the group stage matches with the Football Association citing ‘personal reasons’ for his exit.

In the build-up to Euro 2024, then-England boss Gareth Southgate revealed that White had asked to not be selected.

It was later reported that White had been involved in a falling out with assistant manager Steve Holland, something Southgate refuted.

But three years on, White’s international U-turn has coincided with Tuchel’s arrival as head coach.

The German tactician explained his reasons for bringing the Arsenal star back into the fold and revealed early discussions with White upon taking the England job last year.

Asked why he favoured White over Alexander-Arnold for the upcoming friendlies, Tuchel told talkSPORT: “First of all, I had this call when I took the job with Ben and asked him if he would be happy to come back to play for England.

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“He was straight away very excited and said, ‘Yes,’ there’s absolutely no doubt that he would love to come back.

“Then it never happened because of injuries and we called up other players and he struggled a little bit to get his minutes in Arsenal.

“So now lately we had a late call-up because Jarell Quansah pulled out because of an injury and then he played in the Champions League and I saw him live in the cup final against Manchester City.

“The profile is very similar to Jarell Quansah, he’s a player who could also play as a centre-back.

“So we thought this makes sense for us, we have the same profile of player, we get to know him finally in person and see if the situation is as comfortable as everyone hopes it is so far.”

With the proviso that some senior stars may demand an explanation of why White returned home from the World Cup, Tuchel says the defender will engage with his teammates during the camp.

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He remarked: “I guess there are some players coming from Friday and Saturday who were with him in the World Cup, and I think there will be also some explanation about the situation to clear the air.

“I think this is necessary to be totally free, but until now he had a good camp, he was very involved on and off the pitch, and he showed everyone that he’s happy to be back.

“I feel he is very shy and sensitive, and who needs the trust and the confidence from his players around and from the staff, which we hope we can show him and we hope he feels from us.

“I am not saying that he didn’t feel that before, I can just say what I think now. I don’t know the reason behind what happened in Qatar, so we take it from there, it was top behaviour, top performances until now.”

The England head coach has a bloated squad to work with over the next week which will be his final camp before the World Cup.

That could see the Three Lions line up with an unconventional starting XI against Uruguay on Friday at Wembley in a match that could mark White’s international comeback.

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“There’s of course a chance that he plays for us tomorrow, why not?,” Tuchel said.

“We called him up. Hopefully supporters give him a fair chance. Some things are behind closed doors, talks between coaches and players are behind closed doors, and talks between players are behind closed doors, and they need to trust us.

“I’m not even aware with how many people Ben spoke, because some things I will not get involved in, it’s players’ business.

“We trust him, we trust our group and hopefully the fans can trust us.”