Ben White - Arsenal Sign Defender from Brighton

[Rick]

It’s a lot of money, but he is a good player and he is English so he was hardly going to go cheap. Still, Arsenal spending that sort of money on him when there are bigger fish to fry up the other end of the pitch is bizarre, do they have some massive transfer budget this window? 

[Danny]

2 hours ago, Rick said:

It’s a lot of money, but he is a good player and he is English so he was hardly going to go cheap. Still, Arsenal spending that sort of money on him when there are bigger fish to fry up the other end of the pitch is bizarre, do they have some massive transfer budget this window? 

I’m not sure they need forwards though, they seem like they’re after another attacking mid and if they sell Xhaka will then replace him. But they still have Auba, Saka, Smith-Rowe, Pepe, Willock....and Pepe actually started to look good second half of last season.

[Happy Blue]

They could buy Bernardo silva for that, he's not happy about game time

[Stan]

Just now, Happy Blue said:

They could buy Bernardo silva for that, he's not happy about game time

That would also mean he has to play for Arsenal so he wouldn't be happy there either

[Reluctant Striker]

It feels like another sign of how crazy money is these days.

It is a lot of money for someone not likely to single handedly improve the side beyond recognition.

I'll stand corrected if they finish top 4 & Ben White stars in a mean defence.

But it inflates John McGinn & Jack Grealish fantasy back page transfer fees a few more £'s.

[Chaaay AFC]

Can't wait for the day Arteta and Edu get booted out. Think it'll be a real struggle for White in his first season, not sure he is anywhere near ready for what is going to be asked of him. I do hope I'm wrong but I have massive concerns about this deal.

[JoshBRFC+]

English players are so fucking overpriced it’s unreal. 

[Lucas]

Such a Rolls Royce of a player that I don't think enough people on here truly realise this as they've never really focussed on watching him.

The Arsenal fans are soon going to love him.

[JoshBRFC+]

1 hour ago, Lucas said:

Such a Rolls Royce of a player that I don't think enough people on here truly realise this as they've never really focussed on watching him.

The Arsenal fans are soon going to love him.

I forget he was at Leeds so you’ll have first hand experience! I think it’s a risky typical overpriced England player but I’ll happily be proven wrong if it’s another good young English player fighting for a place in this talented England team we have.

[Dave]

I think this transfer will need to be considered over the span of 5+ years to judge whether it's worth the output as opposed too in six months which is when most fan bases tend to write players off. At the time the likes of Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Luke Shaw were signed with the 'English Inflatation' and were quite right written off for a long time, but now I think if you ask Liverpool, Man City or Man United what you think of those prices they'd say they've got a good return on their investment.

If Ben White was joining Liverpool or Man City for 50 million I wouldn't bat an eye lid. There track record of getting the best out of players for inflated fees tends to speak for itself. A Chelsea fan I was speaking too during the Denmark game when we were talking about this said that if had just paid the fee for John Stones in 2015 it would have solved a lot of trial and error since. Unfortunately for Ben White he's joining Arsenal, who despite having all the resources available to identify the best players for recruitment, have a sketchy record at best.

Unsurprisingly the Leeds United fans love him. He did very well under Bielsa who has shown with Patrick Bamford he can make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Shit. Brighton fans in my age bracket seem a bit more 'real' and say he's a good player who should do well but the fees taken them back a bit and they're happy it means they'll be keeping Bissouma and Dunk for another season.

I'd be interested to see what fees Arsenal are willing to pay going forwards. Its quite clear they want a number 10 (Im surprised they're not after Yacine Adil given Bordeaux's situation). Lokonga and Tavares are not 'bank breaking' signings. When the time comes to replace Aubamayang, Lacazette, Willian etc the fans quite rightly off the back of this should be expecting some significant fees for class talent.

[6666]

Maybe Lucas is right and I've just not seen enough of him but I don't see him as a big signing for us. Just an expensive one. Either way, we didn't need another central defender.

Is he special enough to be a player that we couldn't pass up on even when other areas need strengthening more?

[Stan]

 

 

 

[Stan]

Done deal. 

Still don't think it helps their chances much of vastly improving on last season. That's more a statement about Arsenal as opposed to anything against Ben White. 

 

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 18/07/2021 at 07:41, The Palace Fan said:

I think this transfer will need to be considered over the span of 5+ years to judge whether it's worth the output as opposed too in six months which is when most fan bases tend to write players off. At the time the likes of Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Luke Shaw were signed with the 'English Inflatation' and were quite right written off for a long time, but now I think if you ask Liverpool, Man City or Man United what you think of those prices they'd say they've got a good return on their investment.

If Ben White was joining Liverpool or Man City for 50 million I wouldn't bat an eye lid. There track record of getting the best out of players for inflated fees tends to speak for itself. A Chelsea fan I was speaking too during the Denmark game when we were talking about this said that if had just paid the fee for John Stones in 2015 it would have solved a lot of trial and error since. Unfortunately for Ben White he's joining Arsenal, who despite having all the resources available to identify the best players for recruitment, have a sketchy record at best.

Unsurprisingly the Leeds United fans love him. He did very well under Bielsa who has shown with Patrick Bamford he can make Chicken Salad out of Chicken Shit. Brighton fans in my age bracket seem a bit more 'real' and say he's a good player who should do well but the fees taken them back a bit and they're happy it means they'll be keeping Bissouma and Dunk for another season.

I'd be interested to see what fees Arsenal are willing to pay going forwards. Its quite clear they want a number 10 (Im surprised they're not after Yacine Adil given Bordeaux's situation). Lokonga and Tavares are not 'bank breaking' signings. When the time comes to replace Aubamayang, Lacazette, Willian etc the fans quite rightly off the back of this should be expecting some significant fees for class talent.

I think that first paragraph is very true. We see it a lot: Henderson, Stones, Shaw... even now at United on the other flank of the back 4 with AWB - players that have the "English tax" or whatever you want to call it that make big money moves... a lot of that price is put on their potential.

And I think White has shown he's got a lot of potential... but that doesn't mean he's necessarily 100% ready to play like an expensive CB. So I think it's important that Arsenal fans are patient with him - because the media and fans of other clubs won't be if he's not immediately ready, and they'll be vocal as fuck about it.