Arsenal’s pursuit of Brighton’s highly-rated centre back Ben White has caused a bit of a stir amongst the Arsenal faithful.

For a side who surprisingly finished as the Premier League’s third best defence despite their lowly conclusion in eighth place, many are discussing whether the reported £50m fee would be better spent in other areas of the squad.

That is indeed true, but for a player of Ben White’s qualities, potential impact on Arteta’s team and current market value, its an opportunity the club could not afford to pass up on.

For Arteta, like many of the top coaches in the modern era – especially his managerial mentor at his former club Manchester City – a centre-back’s job description isn’t just to defend their own goal, but to be as effective and influential in distributing the ball upfield, and in doing so become the starting point of team’s attacking play.

Arteta regards playing out from the back as a key tenet of his philosophy, but progressing the ball from one end of the pitch to the other has been a persistent problem during his tenure as coach – particularly when without David Luiz, whose departure this summer has left a ball-playing void in the heart of Arsenal’s defence.

Brazilian and former Lille defender Gabriel does indeed have the qualities to perform the role, averaging 2.39 progressive passes per 90, and 3.69 final third passes with a 91% short pass accuracy, which is impressive data from his first campaign in English football, but he will need someone alongside him to add to that dynamic and provide Arsenal with various modes of building from the back.

Many supporters have wanted to see the returning William Saliba given a chance to fill that void, only for the defender to join Marseille on a season-long loan, his third during his spell as an Arsenal player.

Brighton’s Ben White fits the mould perfectly, and is just the player Mikel Arteta needs to provide an added dimension to his possession-based style.

There can be no disputing Ben White’s calibre and propensity to perform such a key role.

Throughout his time at Leeds United and Brighton, and even during his first international cap for England, Ben White has shown he isn’t afraid in taking on new challenges, and a move to the Emirates represents the perfect step up for him.

The 23-year-old took in the demands and rigours of the Sky Bet Championship with much assuredness and maturity under the tutelage Marcelo Bielsa, he acclimatized brilliantly during his first full campaign in the Barclays Premier League, so who’s to say he wouldn’t immediately capture Arsenal hearts this coming season?

Ben White is a tremendous footballer and defender.

He showed it at Brighton last season, starting all but two of their Premier League games under Graham Potter having made a similarly positive impression on Marcelo Bielsa a year earlier.

The Argentinian was desperate to sign him permanently after he played every minute of their promotion-winning Championship campaign, but the club’s offers – worth as much as £25m – were knocked back. White’s value has swiftly doubled ever since.

Potter and Bielsa, like Arteta, are committed to building from the back and the same is true of Gareth Southgate, who fast-tracked White into the England squad ahead of Euro 2020 and is said to regard him as a key figure in the future of the national side, and rightly so.

White’s burgeoning reputation has a lot to do with his outstanding technical ability and versatility.

He is excellent on the ball and boasts a fine range of passing. His composure and confidence in possession are such that Potter and Bielsa have even used him in central midfield. He is also capable of playing at right-back or at wing-back.

Most of all, he is an excellent and efficient ball-progressor, and distributor – elements of which Mikel Arteta value so highly. Last season, he averaged 3.13 final third passes, 3.27 progressive passes from 41 passes per game with a 90% accuracy.

Arsenal previously looked to David Luiz to initiate their attacks from that position, playing through opposition lines and picking out attacking players in dangerous areas. But it will now fall to White to take on that responsibility and he is well equipped for the task.

Ben White is the composite, modern day centre-back. His smooth transition from League Two level football to the Championship and the Premier League has seen him maintain his unique trait of performing so coolly in possession, and its further helped by the fact that Bielsa, Potter and Southgate’s philosophies are hell-bent on progressive play from the centre-backs. He is steadfast in style, which is perhaps why he is such a good fit for such tactics; he is fast-paced and fearless at times, stepping out to open passing lanes, but equally considered and meticulously calculated.

In fact, despite averaging fewer passes per game than his Arsenal counterparts last season, White played a notably higher percentage of his passes forward reflecting his willingness to send his team on to the attack rather than simply recycle possession.

White contributed handsomely to Brighton’s attacking play not just through his passing but his dribbling too. At times last season, you’d find him running with the ball at full throttle trying to disrupt organised midfield shapes in the opposition or to carry his team up the pitch when there are no options in front of him.

He recorded 0.68 successful dribbles for Brighton last season, better than any of Arsenal’s current options with Pablo Mari coming a distant second with just 0.30. He averaged 3.08 progressive carries per 90 (carries that move the ball towards the opposing goal at least 5yards or into the penalty area) and also recorded 1.04 carries into the final third of the pitch.

White’s dribbling is one of his most unique qualities, recording the most dribbles (24) by a central defender in the Premier League last season, and completed the most carries with take-ons (18) than any other centre back.

Ridiculously impressive.

It’s a testament to his admirable bravery, maturity and ball-playing abilities. It doesn’t stop there, Ben White boasted considerable numbers defensively in comparison to his future Arsenal teammates. More interceptions per90 (1.75), and coming a close second in terms of tackles (1.38) to Rob Holding who recording 1.51 tackles per 90.

White’s dribbling is facilitated by his athletic profile as well as his technical skill. The defender is strong in the duel and boasts impressive pace and acceleration. Together with his close control, those attributes help him glide past opponents with ease and assuredness.

As well as being an astute and capable passer of the ball, he’s a warrior and a rugged defender when he needs to be.

Arteta favours a high line, much like his mentor Pep Guardiola, but a lack of pace among his existing centre-back options leaves Arsenal vulnerable in behind. White’s recovery speed will dramatically improve that.

So too could his ability to read the game. White is relatively inexperienced at 23, but he is always alert to danger – he averaged more interceptions per 90 minutes than any of Arsenal centre-backs last season – and always aware of what’s going on around him. White is also decent aerially, winning 53% of his aerial duels last season.

Ben White may not look the most physically dominant player, but his image is not the whole picture. He is consummate when shepherding out the most physically built players, and standing up to them. His match intelligence is there for all to see when facing up to his opponents, allowing him to position himself well to coax forwards away from threatening positions and make blocks. He times his tackles very well too and a very fine and adept reader of the game.

White’s been dribbled past on average only 0.9 times per game meaning he is so difficult to get past due to his brilliant positional sense and understanding of the differing defensive phases of play.

Brighton finished 16th in the Premier League but defensively they were one of the best sides in the division, keeping 12 clean sheets – the same number as Liverpool and Arsenal – and conceding 46 goals – only two more than second-placed Manchester United. All with White playing more minutes than any other player.

His potential partnership with Gabriel next season looks very enticing as Arteta will possess two capable possession-based, imposing, quick and efficient centre-backs who could potentially be Arsenal’s long-term defensive pairing for a whole number of years to come, and a solid base that Arteta could build for future.

He is ever-so reliable, a silent leader and a consummate professional. At 23-years of age, White already looks somewhere close to the full defensive package. Mikel Arteta will hope his thrilling development continues along the same trajectory at the Emirates Stadium.

£50m in the next few years will look a very worthy investment.

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