England manager Thomas Tuchel discusses surprise inclusion in squad: report

Last year, the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss was officially appointed as Gareth Southgate’s permanent successor after Lee Carsley's interim leadership following Southgate's resignation post-Euro 2024.

England’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign begins with a home doubleheader against Albania and Latvia next month, meaning Tuchel’s first squad is due in the next couple of weeks.

Tuchel holds Ben White talks

As is always the case with a new England boss, all eyes will be on Tuchel’s maiden selection, with the German having spent these first few weeks of his tenure attending live games and also reaching out to players in person and via video calls.

And according to The Telegraph, one of these conversations has been with Arsenal defender Ben White, who withdrew himself from consideration for the national team after he dropped out of England’s World Cup camp in Qatar in 2022.

The Gunners defender has made just four England appearances, winning his last cap in March 2022 when he played the first half of the 3-0 friendly win against the Ivory Coast at Wembley. Tuchel was asked about White’s situation during his unveiling last year, confirming he would be reaching out to the 27-year-old.

“Yes. I will reach out to him [White],” Tuchel said. “It should be clean and a clean start and a clear narrative. It starts from January. I will be in the stadiums from January. I will also not distract the players and they should just know, ‘OK, the boss is there from January.’

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"Then I will of course try to speak to them, but also be respectful to the schedule that they have, because the schedule is busy in January, especially in the Premier League.”

The report confirms that Tuchel has reached out to White, recognised by FourFourTwo in our list of the best right-backs in the world, but the ‘exact details’ of the pair’s conversation remain private, while Arsenal will continue to support White’s decision, whatever that ends up being.

In FourFourTwo’s view, if Tuchel is to convince White – who is valued at €55m by Transfermarkt – to return to the England set-up, it would be a huge boost for their 2026 World Cup hopes.

While White has been sidelined with a knee injury for a sizable chunk of the current season, he returned to action at the weekend and players with his versatility are like gold dust when it comes to tournament football. White is both one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs and one of the best right-backs and his selection should be a no-brainer.