Arsenal prepare concrete Ben White £50m transfer move

Mikel Arteta desperately wants another right centre-back at Arsenal. Linked with players across this summer transfer window, that couldn’t be more evident. The ones they are chasing are also extremely expensive and with resources limited, a move for Ben White asks plenty of recruitment questions.

Dissecting whether Ben White would improve Arsenal is the first port of call and the answer is a simple ‘yes’. A fine season in the Championship was followed by another excellent Premier League campaign with Brighton, one worthy of an England call-up to Euro 2020.

Throughout Arteta’s tenure fans have tried to understand the manager’s methods. He pushed through with a deal to sign Willian when there was a £72m right-winger on the books; Reiss Nelson was simply not fancied; William Saliba not trusted.

With the coming months of the season set to be his stay of execution; fail to start strongly and his job will become untenable. For that reason, his lack of faith in a Premier League untested 20-year-old Saliba is understandable to a degree. Arteta is not confident in either him or Rob Holding to steer his side to success yet.

Arsenal prepare concrete Ben White £50m transfer move in summer transfer window in huge deal for Mikel Arteta

White would take that slot in the team and allow Arsenal to push their backline forward a few yards and add progression from deep. He also boasts versatility at right-back and central midfield, but, he will also cost £40-£50m. As per The Athletic, Arsenal are not messing about and their interest is ‘concrete’ with a move being prepared for the 23-year-old centre-back. Any notion of the links being lazy were surprisingly wide of the mark.

As of yet there has been no contact between the clubs but that is expected ‘in due course’ and Brighton will not stand in White’s way if their valuation of £40-£50m is met.

Perhaps most alluring of all, and certain to be a dangerous line for fans to hang their hat on, is that the asking price ‘is unlikely to be insurmountable for Arsenal’. This is big, big money.

But there are a lot of questions to ask. It firstly couldn’t be clearer that Arteta does not have faith in Saliba. A near £30m centre-back hasn’t kicked a ball in north London for two years and upon his long-awaited arrival in the senior setup already work is underway to ensure he isn’t a regular starter.

Fans are desperate to see him play; for him to start. At some point you have to start trusting your talent; trusting your club’s investment. He’s still young and untested, however, and if a more senior option is available to bring success sooner, then Arteta will take it. It’s what he wants.

What about the money, though? It’s a huge figure and resource distribution has to be questioned.

Continued…

How Much Money Do Arsenal Have This Summer?

White would be an excellent addition in terms of what Arteta wants, but what else does he want? A club with such limited finances, even if the aforementioned figure is achievable where does that leave the rest of the transfer kitty?

Looking at the squad right now, midfield is the priority. Granit Xhaka is departing for around £18m and his departure will leave the biggest gap. There are glaring issues across this squad and while an upgrade on Holding is always welcome, it comes across as strange squad building if £50m is willing to be splashed out on a position where Saliba hasn’t even had a chance.

As far as resource distribution goes, unless Arsenal have secretly stumbled across a goldmine, their limited funds should be focused on other areas. White would be a superb acquisition (even if the dream remains for Saliba to hit the ground running) but where does that leave the Gunners for the rest of the window? It’s said that the club are looking to raise £60m in player sales, a number that would be almost entirely wiped out by bringing White in.

It’s not inconceivable that Arsenal could fork out £85m to Brighton for White and Yves Bissouma, if the latter is even desired any longer.

Looking at it from a strength in depth perspective, Manchester City have an embarrassment of riches at centre-back. They also have an embarrassment of riches in general.

Could this signal potential outgoings? Holding signed a new long-term deal in January, a wise move in regards to protecting his value. It could have been just that, too, with a potential sale to be sanctioned this summer although it does appear unlikely given the talk of him being a part of the core ‘leadership group‘ moving forward.

Konstantinos Mavropanos will almost certainly be sold or loaned, Calum Chambers would be exclusively a right-back and who knows, if the right offer came in, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Arteta sell Saliba.

When you go to the shops you don’t go straight for the items you need most, you go for the ones closest. Arsenal moving for White now doesn’t mean he’s seen as the number one priority, but it is important when you go shopping to ensure you have money left over at the end for the important items.