Gareth Southgate believes the March internationals offer England a ‘good opportunity’ to assess Arsenal star Ben White and Crystal Palace talent Marc Guehi for any future squads.
The Three Lions boss explained his decision to recall White and hand Guehi a debut call-up during his press conference on Thursday. The Gunners defender has not featured in any of England’s squads since Euro 2020 last year, and did not play a second at the tournament.
Guehi, meanwhile, has earned international caps at U16 through to U21 levels. But the 21-year-old had never featured in one of Southgate’s sides previously. So, he will now have a chance to make his senior bow when the Three Lions host Switzerland and the Ivory Coast.
White was in a similar situation to Guehi when Southgate included the then-Brighton star in his Euro 2020 plans. The 24-year-old made his senior international bow in a friendly with Austria and only start so far against Romania before the European Championship last June.
But his pre-tournament performances failed to return any competitive minutes. Southgate also only included White on the bench twice as England played seven games, including the final. His inclusions came during 1-0 group stage wins over Croatia and the Czech Republic.
Southgate feels England recall gives Arsenal ace Ben White ‘good opportunity’
Arsenal signed White from Brighton in a £50m deal after the conclusion of England’s Euro 2020 campaign. He has since shone under Mikel Arteta to help toward a top-four Premier League push. The centre-half has so far helped to keep 12 clean sheets over his 25 games.
White’s efforts in north London have also earned the Arsenal ace a recall under Southgate. As the Three Lions boss feels their March friendlies with Switzerland and the Ivory Coast will offer White and Guehi a chance to show their merits in person in a World Cup year.
“There are some centre-halves that are pushing and were very close,” Southgate said. “But we’ve added Marc and Ben White, this time, and we believe it is a good opportunity to see two slightly younger players and see how they cope with being with us.”
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