Arsenal complete Ben White transfer on club-record £50m deal

Arsenal have at long last completed their third signing of the summer transfer window after confirming the capture of Ben White from Brighton in a club-record deal for a defender.

The deal eclipses the previous outlay parted with for Shkodran Mustafi, and could eventually end up costing the Gunners in the region of £55m, depending on performance-related bonuses.

Mikel Arteta has been desperately seeking to bolster his squad this summer in preparation for a pivotal season in his and the club’s future, and set his stall out early to bring in a central defender to offset the departure of David Luiz.

Talks had been ongoing for weeks with news of interest emerging before the European Championships had even began, culminating in a third and final bid of £50m being accepted that has seen the 23-year-old move to north London.

Arsenal complete Ben White transfer on club-record £50m deal from Brighton to become Mikel Arteta’s third signing of the summer window

Versatile at the back and boasting excellent progressive qualities on the ball, there is even scope for White to help bridge the transition into a 4-3-3, should Arteta opt to head down that route next season.

More importantly, he comes in and lifts the quality level in the squad and defence; he undoubtedly improves Arsenal.

Speaking on the official Arsenal website, Arteta was naturally delighted.

"Mikel Arteta said: “Ben was a top target for us and it’s great that we’ve completed his signing. Ben has been educated with two very good clubs, Brighton and Leeds, in recent seasons. He has benefitted well from two very good coaching set-ups and has shown with both Brighton and on loan with Leeds what a strong talent he is.“Ben is an intelligent defender who is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and his style fits perfectly with us. And of course, he is still young, so his age and profile fits with what we are building here. We are all looking forward to Ben being central to our future long-term plans.”"

Those sentiments were echoed by technical director Edu.

"Technical director Edu said: “Ben has been a key target this summer. He has so many qualities which make us so excited he’s joining us. Ben’s a young English player with a great future. He’s very strong defensively, good on the ball with a great passing range. We’re delighted Ben’s signed and we look forward to him growing with us.”"

White will wear the No. 4 shirt vacated by William Saliba’s move to Marseille, and will battle to build up his fitness ahead of the Premier League opener against Brentford on August 13.

Given the extended season away with England and his time off following that, it remains to be seen whether two weeks will be enough time for him to pick up fitness and absorb the manager’s ideas in time to feature in the curtain raiser. Having not featured in the tournament, hopefully so, and a debut against Tottenham is certainly on the cards.

In any case, White is an excellent addition and somebody who can anchor the defence for years to come. A very wise acquisition.