“It was one of those things where I think everybody won from that situation,” said Graham Potter this week. “We got a good fee, they got a good player.”
On Saturday, Brighton host Arsenal at the Amex in a game that not only pits two of the Premier League‘s most in-form teams against one another but sees Ben White return to his former club for the first time since completing a £50m move in July.
Occasions like this can sometimes have a slightly unsettling effect on supporters; it can take time to readjust to seeing a familiar face lining up in unfamiliar colours. That might not be the case this time, however, given very few Brighton fans will have even seen White wearing the club’s blue and white stripes in the flesh. White spent seven years on the club’s books, but 39 of his 41 appearances were made behind closed doors, or else in front of a drastically reduced capacity.
It will be interesting therefore to see what kind of reception White is afforded as he trots out of the tunnel before kick-off. The 23-year-old was named Brighton’s Player of the Year for his efforts during the Premier League’s pandemic season, but due to the circumstances, it seems unlikely that he would have forged too many meaningful bonds with those on the terraces.
Nevertheless, there would have been a sense of regret for everybody connected with Brighton at seeing a promising player, nurtured carefully in-house and sent methodically out on loan to three separate clubs in the English Football League to develop further, leave for a more affluent club so soon after his emergence. As Potter alluded to though, the Seagulls were well compensated for their loss.
Indeed, the £50m price tag appeared to weigh heavily around White’s neck on his Arsenal debut six weeks ago when he was given the run around by Ivan Toney, his one-time Peterborough United team-mate during their League One days. Subsequent matches have shown that White is certainly not alone in struggling to contain Brentford’s imposing centre-forward, as Conor Coady and Joel Matip will attest.
White’s integration was further disrupted by a positive Covid-19 test that ruled him out – rather mercifully as it turned out – of heavy defeats to Chelsea and Manchester City. Arsenal haven’t faced a similar calibre of opposition since White’s return last month, but it is no coincidence that the Gunners look infinitely more solid with him and fellow summer recruits Aaron Ramsdale and Takehiro Tomiyasu bedded in.
Over the past three weeks, only Manchester City can better Arsenal’s number of goals conceded and clean sheets. There seems to be a greater resilience to Arsenal too: during that same time period, they rank fourth for duels won, defined by Opta as “a 50-50 contest between two players of opposing sides in the match”: winning such encounter is not a trait, commonly associated with Arsenal, it must be said.
White was expected to add quality to Arsenal’s build-up play from the back but he has brought some much-needed toughness too. Mikel Arteta also spoke about his mentality in the build-up to this game, saying: “I’ve been very impressed with how he handles the pressure and how he handled the situation of coming through the Euros, the big fee [that Arsenal paid], and his composure and the calmness that he has shown.”
White’s form wasn’t enough to earn a recall to the England squad though, despite Harry Maguire’s injury. Fikayo Tomori, himself a former Brighton player, albeit only on loan from Chelsea, got the nod ahead of him after impressing for AC Milan in Serie A and the Champions League. “He is a player we are monitoring very closely,” Gareth Southgate said of White. “He would have been very close to this squad as well.”
White will hope that a few more consistent performances for his new club will earn a recall for next month’s matches. Moving to one of English football’s biggest clubs to enhance his international prospects will have certainly played a part in his decision this summer.
While Arsenal look to be benefiting from White’s arrival, Brighton haven’t yet been unduly disrupted by his departure. The unexpected resurgence of Shane Duffy alongside the talismanic Lewis Dunk has given Potter’s side a stable base from which to build upon. The Seagulls have only conceded five times in their opening six league matches and are finally taking their chances at the other end.
As Potter pointed out, it is a move that has benefited all parties. Not that that is likely to deter Brighton fans from attempting to unsettle a player they used to embrace as their own. No matter how fleeting that connection ultimately proved to be.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3l1Nfpz
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