Let’s start today with a bit of sad news, which is that Ben White now misses the rest of the season through injury, as a result of the clash he had with Summerville on Sunday. The club confirmed yesterday that he had sustained a ‘significant medial ligament‘ injury in his knee, which would rule him out for the season.
That is such a shame, and you have to feel for him. And on so many levels, too. Firstly, he was starting to look like his old self again; regular football had seen him linking well on that right-hand side, he looked fitter to me, he was impacting games positively, and we could see his impact when he came out of the team on Sunday. Some of that, as we know, was down to the manager not quite getting the balance of the side right by shifting Rice to right back, but I also just think our back four had a great look to it with the two centre-halves and then Calafiori roaming on the left-hand side. Earlier in the season, we all talked about the gulf between Timber and White, but with each passing game, it felt to me as if that gap was shortening, so to have his season cut short like this is incredibly sad.
You could kind of see it on his face on Sunday, too, I think. He is a guy who will run through brick walls, and so when he’s wincing and hobbling off, it means that something bad has happened. I think we all probably suspected as such, but when the news comes through on the official channels, it’s still a shock. And yet, sadly for Benny Blanco, part of it isn’t really a shock. Sadly for Ben, his last two seasons have been blighted by injury, as a result of his constant playing through pain and willingness to be a soldier for Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal side. His TransferMarkt injury record tells us this: this is a guy who was robust enough to play through everything, until he wasn’t. He was a guy who could run through those aforementioned brick walls until he couldn’t. And clearly, that point in his career kicked off last season with him missing 29 games through four separate injuries, then this season it will be another three games to take him to 13 games missed this season, across four separate injuries.
He’ll be devastated on multiple fronts here. Firstly, not to play and have yet another setback in your season for the second-year running, but secondly, the timing of this injury couldn’t be worse. For him or us.
Ben will miss two games that could see us (hopefully) lift the Premier League trophy. Given the fact that he was now the de facto first-choice right back and we were only playing once per week for the next three matches, that is a load that he certainly could have managed before this impact injury. If we get over the line, he would have been there, on the pitch, to be part of that final push. But secondly, he will miss the Champions League Final. That is the pivotal point in a footballer’s career. That is history. And to have it taken away as he has is really cruel indeed.
Again, because of the current unknown situation surrounding Jurrien Timber, I think Ben White would have been an odds-on to start in that showpiece final. And although I am less worried about the World Cup, given his form and the fact he’d been playing regularly for The Arsenal, I think there was also an outside chance of him making the England squad too. At a time when he was edging his way back into contention for the national team, he’s been ruled out almost indefinitely.
So, what now then at right back for these remaining games, eh? Well, that is a conundrum that Arteta has to solve. He’s previously said that he doesn’t know if Timber will play again this season, but there are chinks of light on that story, as reported on social media by HandOfArsenal:
Arsenal General Update
🚨 David Raya has a 1 year OPTIONAL extension on his current contract which has 2 years left. All parties are very relaxed about his long term future as a payrise was agreed last summer as reported by @SamiMokbel_BBC .
Contender for POTY? Serious shout…
— HandofArsenal (@HandofArsenal) May 11, 2026
I think the caution from Arsenal – and from us as well – is well-placed. Timber hasn’t played in coming up to months, so he will need time to get back to fitness. And even if he does come back before the end of the season, is he in tip-top shape to take on somebody like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia? I would question that. As PSG once again lead a procession to their domestic league title, he has sat on the bench for two of the last three matches against Angers and Lorient, only playing 29 minutes in a 1-0 win over Stade Brestois at the weekend just gone, so he will be fresh. The other option – which, to be fair, for a third-choice right back ain’t too shabby, is Mosquera, but again it isn’t optimal. I think for the Burnley game on Monday, you’d hope that Mosquera can come in and do a job and, for Palace away with him playing from the start, you’d hope he’ll be able to feel his way into the game well enough. But that Champions League final sticks out, and the quality of opposition sticks out. It is a worry.
And the other final worry I have with regards to this news is for the player and his longer-term future in itself. Has Ben White played his last game for The Arsenal? That’s difficult to speculate on right now, but if some of the online reading on MCL injuries is right, he could be looking at between three and six months out. Not only does that impact his ability to recover and have a pre-season, but it is unlikely that – if he wanted to go somewhere and play football more regularly this summer – his chances of doing so have just taken a blow. If we assume the worst-case scenario, it’ll be six months, and that takes him to November this year. With no pre-season to get up to speed as the rest of the squad are well into it, you’re probably talking until December before he can start to be considered. And my biggest worry with this sort of timeline is that it all feels a little Tierney/Tomiyasu-like. KT was a regular for The Arsenal and Arteta when he first arrived, but after his knee surgery in 2021/22, he never really got trusted by the manager afterwards and saw out his contract as a bit-part player. Tomiyasu was exactly the same. If Ben isn’t getting into matchday squads until December next season, one fears that his playing time is going to be limited, because Arteta will have moved on and found another right back to deputy Timber, I suspect.
I’m going to leave it there for today. But I’m going to say thank you from one Gooner to the man who has been such a cult player for us over the years. His sh*thousery will go down in folklore, his interviews, his deadpan face, but most of all, his connection with his teammates in that right back slot.
Get well soon Benny Blanco.