Ben White was signed last season on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion by Leeds United. He arrived at Elland Road as the replacement for Pontus Jansson who’d fallen foul of Marcelo Bielsa. It was a deal that represented the swap of a relatively untried youngster with a relatively experienced international defender.
Some Leeds United fans were rightly worried about the particulars of this swap deal. However, it only took a few games for these worries to be eased and for minds to be put at rest. Quite simply put, in Bielsa’s system Ben White was fantastic and looked like he’d been playing at this level for years rather than it being his first outing in the Championship.
The Poole-born youngster was so dependable that he featured in every minute of every game of Leeds United’s title-winning campaign. Not only did he shine and excel at his usual centre-back role but he also did so when deputising for Kalvin Phillips in a defensive midfield role. Such were the levels of his displays that he became target no.1 for Leeds United in the current transfer window.
It is a saga that is ongoing, bids being entered by Leeds and rebuffed by Brighton. However, it is a saga that continues and one that Sun reporter Alan Nixon comments on with a tweet on his personal Twitter feed (below):
Brighton. Leeds. Ben White saga latest … Potter wants to see him in training before deciding what part he plays this season … and if he is worth the large contract needed to keep him.
— Alan Nixon (@reluctantnicko) August 16, 2020
Brighton boss Graham Potter has repeatedly said that White remains a Brighton player and that his future is solidly at the south coast club. Leeds United are also said to have entered ‘test-the-water’ bids of £18m and £22.5m that the Seagulls have knocked back.
What Nixon writes seems to suggest that one thing he needs to see will inform two further decisions that he and Brighton will have to make. Seagulls boss Potter needs to see Ben White in the flesh before seeing whether the youngster will play a big part at the Premier League club next season and if it’s worth the club shelling out on him.
To put it bluntly, if Potter decides not to give Ben White suitable guarantees over Premier League game time or not think he’s worthy of a much bigger new deal then Leeds United will be waiting in the wings ready to fulfil both those criteria.
