Brighton & Hove Albion defender Ben White has completed his move to Arsenal for a fee of around £50 million, reports Fabrizio Romano. The defender joins hoping to become a key part of Mikel Arteta’s ongoing rebuild at the Emirates. He should tick the boxes for age, potential and ball-playing ability to slot straight into the side.
As for Brighton, they’ll consider the deal good business having received the £50 million fee. Without White, the Seagulls still have a solid bunch of defensive options including the more experienced Lewis Dunk, Joel Veltman and Adam Webster.
Arsenal fans will be satisfied with the move, but they’ll still have plenty of questions probably starting with, did they even need another centre-back? The Gunners already have David Luiz, Rob Holding, Gabriel and Pablo Mari. Sure Ben White offers added quality, but surely the budget should have gone on the frontline?
Last season saw Arsenal concede less goals than third place Liverpool yet finish the season five places and eight points away from them. The argue could be made that they didn’t need to target defenders, especially when looking at their offensive numbers.
Whilst conceding less goals than Liverpool, Arteta’s side scored less than Leeds United and Newcastle United. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang struggled for the majority of the season, scoring just ten Premier League goals.
At the age of 32, the likelihood is that he only continues his decline in the forthcoming season, too, leaving Arsenal without a goalscoring. White will undoubtedly find success at the Emirates, but is he needed? No.
Instead, Arteta should have thrown sentiment out of the window and targeted a replacement for Aubameyang. Luckily for the Gunners, there is still time to welcome further players before the beginning of the season.