Ben White is expected to leave Leeds United and return to Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer, according to The Athletic.
The Poole-born centre-half has been a star player at Elland Road this season, having taken to the role vacated by PFA Championship Team of the Year member Pontus Jansson and become a mainstay of Marcelo Bielsa’s plans.
White is the only outfield United player to have featured for the full 90 minutes in each of our league games this term, having never needed replacing over his 29 appearances that have helped Kiko Casilla to keep a league-high 12 clean sheets.
His performances at Elland Road sparked a lot of Premier League interest before the turn of the year, with runaway leaders Liverpool and bitter rivals Manchester United said to have been monitoring his progress.
Chelsea were also linked with a potential £25million January offer after boss Frank Lampard received glowing reports on the 22-year-old, who impressed Blues scouts with his ‘ice-cool displays’ and skilful presence at Elland Road.
Brighton are not planning on selling the centre-half, though, as The Athletic claim Graham Potter’s south coast side firmly see the 5 ft 11 centre-half as a part of their future plans.
Does White deserve an England call-up?
Yes
No
It would seem, then, that the Seagulls want White back at the Amex Stadium this summer and have no intentions of considering offers from Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea or even us if approaches were made.
It would certainly be a pity if White is to leave Bielsa’s clutches at the close of the campaign, as the youngster has proven to be such a stellar addition to our squad despite never playing in a senior league higher than the third-tier before his arrival last summer.
White has made a total of 32 appearances for United, and we have averaged 1.90 points per Championship match with the Poole-born talent on the field.
He had a rather quiet night on Tuesday as we beat Millwall 3-2, but proved his ability as more than a centre-half by dropping into midfield on occasion in the absence of the suspended Kalvin Phillips.
In other Leeds United news, a rarely seen player has been offered a chance to leave Elland Road and join a Europa League outfit.