Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are reportedly interested in Ben White and are monitoring the progress of the Brighton defender.
According to a report by Sky Sports, Ben White has appeared on the radars of three of the biggest teams in the Premier League. Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur all have the Brighton & Hove Albion centre-back in their sights, with his progress being closely followed.
Ben White joined the Brighton & Hove Albion academy as a 16-year-old after being released by Southampton in 2014. In a couple of years’ time, it was time for the youngster to progress to the first-team setup, but he has had to wait till the current campaign to make his league debut for the Seagulls, having only made a couple of cup appearances for the club back in 2016.
White was subsequently hauled off on loan thrice by Brighton, and he particularly impressed while at Leeds United last season. It is during the 2019/20 campaign wherein his stock skyrocketed and he was subsequently linked with a number of top Premier League clubs, which included Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United, while Leeds also tried signing him permanently.
Brighton, though, managed to keep hold of the promising young defender, who signed a new deal with the club at the onset of the 2020/21 season and has since played every single Premier League game for them. With his progress continuing at an exponential rate, the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have once again appeared on his trails, with Tottenham also interested now.
Chelsea bolstered their squad considerably this past summer, and this included defence as well. Thiago Silva in particular has made such an swift impact that there are talks of a possible extension already. However, considering that Silva is in the twilight of his career, Chelsea do need to lay down a succession plan for the Brazilian as well.
To that end, Jose Gimenez is one of those defenders linked with the Blues, who are now showing an interest in White once again. Like Chelsea, Manchester United have a largely solid defensive unit, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been eager to find a reliable partner for Harry Maguire, especially with Victor Lindelof being quite inconsistent.
The injury woes of Eric Bailly means that Axel Tuanzebe is the only other recognised centre-back at Manchester United presently, with Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones being surplus to requirements. To that end, White is a viable target for Manchester United, who are also vying with Tottenham for his signature.
The interest from Tottenham also makes some sense, considering Toby Alderweireld is on the wrong side of 30 and Davinson Sanchez faces an uncertain future at the club. That leaves former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho with Eric Dier and the young duo of Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga as the only other centre-backs available to him.
For now, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham are merely monitoring the progress of White, while Liverpool have ceded interest in him after following him for the longest time. It will be quite interesting to see if any of the Premier League bigwigs do make a move for White in January and if Brighton can manage to firmly hold on to him once again.