A decision on whether Ben White requires surgery has been made, after the Arsenal right-back suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s win against West Ham
Arsenal defender Ben White will NOT require surgery on the knee injury he sustained in Sunday’s win at West Ham.
White, 28, was substituted during the first half of the game at the London Stadium following a collision with West Ham’s Crysencio Summerville. Mikel Arteta cut a concerned figure in his post-match press conference and it has since been confirmed that White has sustained a Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) injury in his right knee.
“Further to Sunday’s match at West Ham United, subsequent assessments and specialist reviews have confirmed that Ben White has sustained a significant medial knee ligament injury, which will rule him out for the remainder of this season,” Arsenal said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.
“Our medical team are now managing Ben’s recovery and rehabilitation programme, with everyone fully focused on supporting the aim of Ben being ready for the start of our pre-season preparations.”
Rumours had increased that White might need surgery to recover from the issue, but Sky Sports have claimed that he won’t have to go under the knife and will recover through rest and strengthening the ligament.
Although White has been ruled out Arsenal’s final two Premier League matches and the Champions League final, there is still a chance he could be fit in time to represent England at the World Cup.
White was called up to Thomas Tuchel’s squad for March’s international friendlies against Uruguay and Japan, and even scored as he impressed the German in his first appearance for his nation in almost four years.
Arsenal, meanwhile, are facing the prospect of having no right senior right-back for the rest of the season, though Jurrien Timber is pushing to return for the Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Timber, 24, has missed the last 12 matches for Arsenal after picking up an ankle injury in the 2-0 win against Everton in mid-March. Although White has impressed in his absence at right-back, Timber has been a huge miss.
Speaking after Arsenal’s win at West Ham on Sunday, Arteta admitted that Timber’s injury has proven to be a complicated one. “Yes, that’s been probably the most difficult thing to manage,” the Spaniard said. “With the player and with myself as well because we didn’t expect it to take so long and at the moment he’s not fit to play.”
With White and Timber both out for at least the final two Premier League games against Burnley and Crystal Palace, Arsenal head coach Arteta has a major right-back dilemma on his hands.
Arteta decided to put Declan Rice there for a short period against West Ham, but it didn’t work and he made another change with Christian Mosquera going there for the second half.
Mosquera is poised to continue there in the short-term while Timber prepares to return. William Saliba is another option, though him and Gabriel Magalhaes have a formidable centre-back partnership.
