26-year-old Arsenal man is the most underrated player at the club, he was outstanding against City

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Against Manchester City Ben White proved once again just how crucial he is for Arsenal and Mikel Arteta this season and beyond.

There’s quite a few players who could be considered underrated at Arsenal, but none more so than White.

Although the likes of William Saliba and Declan Rice get a lot of the credit for Arsenal’s defensive unit, and do deserve it, the 26-year-old is so crucial.

White kept Phil Foden quiet all afternoon at the Emirates and also did a stellar job in assisting his centre-backs.

Erling Haaland was kept remarkably quiet and mustered 0.00 xG in his 90 minutes.

However, it wasn’t just Ben White’s defending that caught the eye, he was also a very willing runner in the first half when things were cagey.

It was a match akin to a game of chess at the Emirates, and White was willing to take a risk on the overlap.

White took responsibility on the right hand side and commanded the whole area of pitch – freeing Gabriel Jesus to be both creative and diligent.

White displayed all of his progress at Arsenal against City

Of course, White’s performance will be incredibly frustrating from an England fan point of view.

Arguably the country’s best full back, and yet still no place in the squad.

Nonetheless, that shouldn’t distract from just how imperious White was for Arsenal against City.

And his continued success at right-back is particularly interesting given Arteta seemed keen to deploy White centrally this year.

With all of his options available at the start of the season, Arteta chose a centre-back partnership of White and Saliba.

Something that does now seem very harsh on Gabriel Magalhaes – perhaps another underappreciated Arsenal player.

Of course, Arsenal fans will be even happier to see this level of performance against City given the reports that White is advancing in talks to sign a new deal.