Brighton, Leeds or top six? Where does the future of Ben White lie?

Every day a new rumours seems to swirl surrounding the future of Brighton & Hove Albion defender Ben White. One minute he’s set to become a part of Graham Potter’s first team plans, the next The Leeds United are going to break their transfer record to sign him, then he’s off to one of the big six in the summer.

Despite the many column inches devoted to the talented White this season, the truth is nobody knows what will happen with him for the 2020-21 season.

That was the case even before Covid-19 brought the current campaign to a shuddering halt. Coronavirus just adds another layer of complication to the situation.

Will any club be willing to spend the £20 million plus that was being quoted as White’s potential fee in a post-pandemic world in which some of those same clubs originally tried to claim government money to pay their staff wages?

Is it going to be acceptable to use eight figures to buy a 22-year-old with no Premier League experience a few months after the taxpayer was picking up the wages of Sharon in the training ground kitchen because of ‘financial hardship’? Will clubs even have £20 million to spend?

One thing that isn’t in doubt is that White is an outstanding talent. He’s been earning rave reviews for The Leeds United in a season in which they look like they might not bottle promotion to the Premier League for once.

White is everything that a modern centre back should be. Watch his highlight reel on YouTube and you’ll see a player who can read the game, is always in the right place at the right time, is strong in the air and firm in the tackle.

He can also play with the ball at his feet. 60 yard passes sprayed out of defence straight to the feet of his Leeds teammates are made to look like the simplest task in the world. He’s even got the confidence to throw in the odd piece of skill and trickery whilst in the last line of defence.

When one of the world’s best managers like Marcelo Bielsa is singing your praises, you must be something special. It’s little wonder then that so many clubs are being linked with White and his future is a constant source of speculation.

We’ve tried to cut through a lot of the nonsense to work out where White’s future lies.

Brighton & Hove Albion
The most important thing to remember about Ben White is that he is a Brighton player. Read comments online and you might be forgiven for thinking he belongs to The Leeds United, the way their fans talk about where White will end up in 2020-21.

Our favourite was an article entitled Ben White: Assessing which club the Leeds defender should join this summer. Not once within this well-researched piece was the possibility that Ben White might play for Brighton mentioned. You know, the club who actually own him. He isn’t a Leeds United defender.

There there was an article on The Athletic which said Leeds will let Ben White return to Brighton on July 1st. Let him. As if it’s their decision that he returns to his parent club. What are they going to do otherwise, take him hostage in a cupboard at Elland Road?

Leeds’ say in White’s future amounts to a big fat zero. Their supporters can say he’s definitely going to Elland Road or that they don’t want him to move to Chelsea, but Brighton hold all the cards.

We could send him back on-loan to Newport County and there’s nothing the Champions of Europe could do about it. White could spend a year playing second guitar on tour with Lady Gaga and it would be none of Leeds’ business.

Leeds are an irrelevance at this point. Instead, it’s the opinion of Graham Potter and Tony Bloom which matter – and there will be several considerations for the powers that be at the Albion to consider when it comes to what to do with White.

His future could be intrinsically linked with that of Lewis Dunk. Should Dunk finally secure his long-deserved move to a bigger and better club for the 2020-21 season, then Potter’s resolve to keep White as a natural replacement will surely strengthen. No sensible Premier League side would countenance selling two star defenders in one summer.

Shane Duffy may also yet be sold, his playing time having been seriously reduced due to Potter not perceiving him as capable enough to play out from the back. Such a flash sale of centre backs would be utterly mad.

Brighton have become a notoriously hard club to do business with over the past five years. The summer of 2014 is the last time that the Albion sold a first team player and Bloom very much seems to have learned the lessons of that harrowing experience.

Leonardo Ulloa was replaced with Chris O’Grady. Keith Andrews with Gary Gardner. Stephen Ward with Joe Bennett. Matthew Upson with Aaron Hughes.

Brighton either sold or tried to replace out-of-contract and loan players with cheaper alternatives. As a result, we went from sixth in the Championship to nearly being relegated. Bloom has fought tooth and nail to keep the family silver ever since.

If Brighton & Hove Albion don’t want to sell Ben White, then Ben White won’t be going anywhere. But that of course isn’t the only possible road that this transfer saga could take…

The Leeds United
The Leeds United’s best chance of landing White – perhaps their only – would involve Brighton being relegated and Leeds winning promotion.

In that scenario, Leeds would be able to offer White the Premier League football his performances so far this season have earned.

Brighton would also have books to balance. Bloom has already sunk over £300 million into the Albion; if he doesn’t want to finance sustained losses with the significant drop in income that a return to the Championship would lead to, nobody could blame him for trying to recoup some cash through player sales.

Suddenly, £20 million for a young defender who hasn’t played a league game for Brighton might become a very tempting offer.

Brighton’s nine remaining fixtures are a horror show – Arsenal, Leicester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City are all in there – and that means that it is a very real possibility that the Albion could go down, if the season ever resumes.

But if Brighton remain a Premier League club and Leeds join them in the top flight, there is no way that Bloom or Potter will sell to a relegation rival.

One of the big six
White has been linked with every one of the big six at some point over the past six months. Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool are said to have sent scouts to watch White during his time at Elland Road.

While Brighton would find it easy saying no to a bid from a newly promoted Premier League side for White’s services, they may find it harder to turn down big money from a big club – especially if White wants to go. The prospect of playing Champions League or international football could easily turn his head.

White will have seen the struggles of teammate Dunk in breaking into the England squad despite his outstanding form. White might therefore conclude that his best route to the Three Lions is by playing for a fashionable side sooner rather than later.

If White did try to force through a move, Bloom again his form at rebuttal. Dunk himself handed in a transfer request in 2015 in an attempt to secure a £5 million transfer to Fulham.

Going back further, Elliott Bennett did likewise in January 2011 when Norwich City came sniffing, although Bennett was then sold six months later after helping Gus Poyet’s side win the League One title.

Telling players they aren’t being sold to Fulham or Norwich is admittedly slightly easier than refusing to let them leave to work Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.

If one of the giants of the game came in for White, the Albion’s resolve to keep him would be severely tested, especially if the player is keen on making the move himself.

After all, his Brighton senior career so far consists of 180 minutes in two League Cup ties against Colchester United and Oxford United four years ago.

He may not feel the same sense of loyalty towards the club as someone with over a century of games who has formed a real bond with supporters does.

And that is perhaps the most bizarre thing about the whole situation. If Brighton do sell Ben White, it’s going to be for a club-record fee for a bloke who hasn’t played a second of league football for the Albion.

That is the only thing regarding the future of White that anyone can say with certainty.