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Arteta assesses £50m Arsenal signing White’s debut display

Ben White - Arsenal
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Ben White made his debut for Arsenal in the north London derby, leaving manager Mikel Arteta “really impressed” with his performance.

White was one of the high-profile transfers of this summer window, with Arsenal splashing a reported hefty £50 million fees to secure his services from Brighton.

The center-back was not included in the starting XI against Chelsea but he did come off the bench in the second half replacing Rob Holding.

A glimpse of the 23-year-old’s immense talent was witnessed when he sprinted back and made a sublime goal-saving block to deny Hakim Ziyech.

All in all, it was a fine debut performance from the Englishman, who looked comfortable throughout, even though his team suffered a 2-1 defeat.

“I’m really pleased,” Arteta told in his post-match press conference.

“I think the club has shown the ambition and the direction that we want to take.

“It’s a player we’ve been following for years now and we identify him as a great option for us, for our game model, for the balance that we want in the squad in terms of youth and the players who can still develop with us, so great recruitment.”

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