Ben White told he 'wouldn't play football' if not for huge wages by former team-mate amid claims Arsenal defender 'hates' his job

White raised eyebrows previously when he admitted he does not particularly like watching football. The Arsenal star conceded he always "loved" playing but "never watching." The defender then went on to cause more controversy by making himself unavailable for international duty with England after leaving the squad early during World Cup 2022.

White's comments have led to claims that the 27-year-old does not actually like football, and former team-mate Patrick Bamford says the defender certainly wasn't interested in the game outside of training and playing matches when the pair were together at Leeds United.

Bamford told BBC 5 Live Sport: "Not so much people who hate it. There's definitely people that, if they didn't get paid the way they did, just wouldn't do it. But then also there's players who aren't interested in it outside of what they do. An easy example is Ben White. Brilliant player, unbelievable. But he wouldn't watch football, wasn't really like too fussed about what went on in the football world apart from game day and training."

White has set the record straight on whether he hates football in an interview with Ben Foster. He told Amazon Prime: “No, of course not. It was a massive thing, there were a few things that I said. Obviously I don’t watch it. For me, it’s not a big deal. That’s why I said it at the time. Training, the amount of videos you have to do every day, it’s so extreme, so when I come home I just want to forget about it. [My dogs] are literally my life, so no football on, don’t talk about it when I come home, mum and dad don’t speak to me about it, it’s just like it’s not my job basically.

“People think that I don’t love it, and obviously I don’t watch it, but I could probably tell you most things about every winger that I play against or the attributes that I’m going to have to come up against on the weekend. Playing right-back, there’s so many good left-wingers, every game they’re the best player. If you look at every team, one or two, they’re the best.”

White may not be watching any football this week but he will be hoping to feature in some key fixtures for the Gunners. Mikel Arteta's side face Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Tuesday and then host Liverpool in a huge Premier League clash on Sunday.