Arsenal swoop for ‘£50m’ on EPL’S Brighton defender White

LONDON: Arsenal have signed England defender Ben White from Premier League rivals Brighton, the London club announced on Friday.

The 23-year-old, a member of England’s Euro 2020 squad, has now completed a medical.

Although no fee, nor the exact length of a “long-term” deal has been disclosed, British media reports suggest White has moved to the capital for a fee of £50 million ($70 million).

“Ben was a top target for us and it’s great that we’ve completed his signing,” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta told the club’s website.

“Ben has been educated with two very good clubs, Brighton and Leeds, in recent seasons. He has benefited well from two very good coaching set-ups and has shown with both Brighton and on loan with Leeds what a strong talent he is.”

White played 36 games for Brighton last season.

“We are incredibly proud of him and what he has achieved and much credit must go to our academy, who have played such an important role in developing Ben from a younger age,” said Brighton manager Graham Poter.

Meanwhile, Manchester United announced Friday they had no positive coronavirus cases within their first-team squad and could resume training.

Thursday saw United cancel their pre-season friendly at Preston on Saturday ater a number of suspected Covid-19 cases within the camp of the English football giants.

United were due to make the short trip to Deepdale, fellow northwest club Preston’s home ground, at the weekend as part of their build-up to the new Premier League season.

But routine lateral flow testing on Thursday saw some possible positive cases returned, with all those concerned isolating ahead of further PCR tests.

Nevertheless, a statement issued by United on Friday said: “Ater further testing yesterday (Thursday) and today (Friday), we can confirm that there are no positive cases within the first-team group.

“Following consultation with the Premier League, they are satisfied that all COVID protocols have been followed correctly and the squad can return to training immediately.”

United are due to finish their pre-season programme with a game against top-flight rivals Everton at Old Trafford on Aug.7.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, runners-up in last season’s table to local rivals Manchester City, then begin the new Premier League campaign at home to Leeds the following week.