White: "I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else"

After putting pen to paper on his new Arsenal contract, Ben White admitted that there was no other place he would rather be playing his football right now.

Our defender has extended his stay in north London which will delight Gooners everywhere, as well as Mikel Arteta and Edu who were alongside Ben to see the ink dry on his new deal - as they were back in July 2021 when he first became an Arsenal player.

And while Ben laughs that the contract signing moment is always a little strange, he is thrilled that it means he gets to continue playing in our youthful side challenging at the top of the Premier League and in the latter stages of the Champions League.

Speaking after signing, he said: “I’m so happy – it’s been a long journey, and amazing to sign again and be here for more years. I’ve said before I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, so it’s perfect.

“When you’re in that office, it’s a little more daunting but it’s amazing to sign again and have the same feelings of pride It’s a really good achievement.”

After committing his future, Ben chatted with Gooner and YouTuber Timbsy as they took Win the dog for a walk around the Sobha Realty Training Centre, and he was asked when he first felt at home at the club.

“I’d probably say not until the pre-season after I joined,” Ben revealed. “I feel like I’ve always done a year somewhere and left again straight away to go on loan, or go back to Brighton for a year and then come to Arsenal. It was the first time I’ve been back-to-back and stayed somewhere. I think that was probably then when I realised I’m here to stay, and to play.”

And playing is something that Ben has done virtually more than any other player since he joined the club. He has made 122 appearances out of a possible 134 in that period, and has sat out just seven Premier League matches over the past three seasons.

In that time he has developed alongside a host of other hugely talented youngsters to take us back into title contention and return to the Champions League. He admits that the main reason why he wanted to stay is he feels the sky is the limit when it comes to what our squad can go on to achieve.

Reflecting on the past couple of campaigns, Ben added: “Last season we did better than what people expected. I think there was a little bit of belief that we could do it, and we didn’t get what we wanted last season, but this season, we’ve started so well. Coming in for pre-season, everyone was top and ready to go, you could kind of tell in pre-season that we were going to be another team this year.

“I think with the team, there’s not too much said about where we want to be. I think everyone knows we’re in for the highest we can, and I don’t think anything is too big for us to be able to challenge and win. There’s no limit to what we can achieve.”

Hear much more from Ben’s interview with Timbsy by pressing play on the video above