Lee Carsley weighs in on Ben White's England prospects after revealing his inaugural squad as manager

"We have not seen any new developments in Ben White's status with the national team, and at this time, he is still considered unavailable for selection," stated interim England manager Lee Carsley.

The 26-year-old has just four caps for his country, despite being a consistently good performer for Arsenal since joining from Brighton in 2021.

The versatile defender was in the England camp ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar but left for personal reasons, believed to be a falling out with assistant manager Steve Holland, and has not played for the Three Lions since.

Previous manager Gareth Southgate said as Euro 2024 approached that the door was open for White to return to the squad, but the Arsenal man had made himself unavailable for selection.

With Southgate stepping down after the summer tournament it was thought that a change in manager could bring White back into the fold but he is not in Carsley’s first squad for Nations League games against Ireland and Finland.

Explaining the situation, the interim boss told a press conference: ‘As far as I’m aware with that he wasn’t available for selection, nothting’s changed in my two weeks of being here.

‘So that’s where I’m at with him. I’ve seen in some of the press reports that he was open to [coming back] but it’s gone no further so as far as I’m aware nothing’s changed there’

Asked if good performances could change things, Carsley said: ‘He’s always played well, but he made himself unavailable for selection, so I’m not sure where we go with that.’

Carsley has named a fairly bold squad, with inclusions for the likes of Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White, Noni Madueke, Tino Livramento and Rico Lewis.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Newcastle United)

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Levi Colwill (Chelsea), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Rico Lewis (Manchester City), Tino Livramento (Newcastle United), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Phil Foden (Manchester City), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Morgan Gibbs-White (Nottingham Forest), Angel Gomes (Lille), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Declan Rice (Arsenal)

Forwards: Jarrod Bowen (West Ham United), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

England play Ireland in Dublin on 7 September and host Finland at Wembley on 10 September.

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