Darren Bent has accused Gareth Southgate of ‘lying’ regarding Ben White’s withdrawal from England duties.
White made his Three Lions debut in 2021 but has just four senior caps to his name to date.
That’s because the Arsenal defender has been out of the picture for the Three Lions since declaring himself unavailable for selection after flying home from England‘s World Cup camp at Qatar 2022.
It’s thought White — who is currently sidelined for three months after undergoing knee surgery — had a falling out with assistant manager Steve Holland, while Southgate said the defender was asked to be left out of future England squads.
White hasn’t featured for England since but with Thomas Tuchel set to take over as Gareth Southgate’s permanent replacement — following an interim spell under Lee Carsley — there are rumours that he could perform a U-turn.
Former England striker Bent believes White’s willingness to return to the international picture is enough to suggest he wasn’t the problem at all and that former manager Southgate may have been dishonest with his statements on the situation.
“If Ben White has made himself eligible for an international call up that tells me he never had an issue with playing for England,” Bent told talkSPORT.
“I’m pretty sure he always wanted to play for England but had a problem with Gareth Southgate and Steve Holland.
“Some fans might not see it and they’ll say ‘just get on with it, you’re playing for England’ but you have to be comfortable within a working environment.
“If Ben White felt every time he went there he was being targeted, kind of mocked in front of the rest of his teammates and he felt uncomfortable then he should have the option as a human being to say ‘I don’t want to put myself in that situation so I’ll take myself out’.
“As soon as they’ve gone if he’s saying that he wants to be selected for England, that tells me that it’s never been about playing for his country.
“I’m sure if you sat him down and asked him he’d say representing his country is the highest honour you can get.
“But the fact that Southgate came out and lied basically, saying that nothing happened — be honest.
“Say that ‘we’ve had a bit of a falling out and he’s opted not to come back’ then it would be fair enough, but he’s almost tried to put it on Ben White and said ‘blame him, not me’ and that’s not really fair in my eyes.
“He’s done a lot of good for England in uniting the players, the press and the fans but just be honest about it, don’t put it all on Ben.”
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