Declan Rice says he hopes to convince his Arsenal team-mate Ben White to make an international U-turn and become available to play for England.
White has starred for the Premier League leaders this season but has not featured in the national team squad since the 2022 World Cup.
The 26-year-old returned early from Qatar for what the Football Association called “personal reasons” and reports later emerged of an alleged bust-up with England assistant Steve Holland.
England manager Gareth Southgate denied any such fall-out when he announced his squad for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium this month and revealed that White did not want to be selected by England at the moment.
White’s Arsenal team-mate Rice will captain England at Wembley on Tuesday against Belgium in the final friendly before the manager picks his 23-man squad for Euro 2024 – and then will set about convincing White with the help of his fellow Arsenal team-mates to change his mind.
“Playing for England is the greatest honour you could ever have. So hopefully, with the quality that he has and the quality he can bring to this side, we can get him back in.”
This is the final England game before Southgate names his squad longlist for the Euros on Tuesday May 21 – two days after the Premier League season ends.
England then play two more international friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina at St James’ Park on June 3 and Iceland at Wembley on June 7 before Southgate’s final 23-player squad has to be confirmed by Sunday June 8.
The tournament starts on Friday June 14 with England’s first game in Germany against Serbia on Saturday June 15.
