England have announced that Ben White will substitute Trent Alexander-Arnold on the Euro 2020 squad. The Brighton defender was one of the final cuts out from the provisional 33-man roster. The 23-year-old center-back made his debut with the Three Lions in the recent friendly against Austria.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was recently ruled out for the tournament with a thigh injury that will require six weeks to heal fully. Coach Gareth Southgate elected not to call up another right-back, already having Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, and Reece James as options for such position, and chose a versatile player.
White has featured as holding midfielder against Austria and then in his natural role as center-back versus Romania. He would come in handy if Harry Maguire were not fully ready to play following an ankle injury. The other options in the running to re-enter the group were James Ward-Prowse, Jesse Lingard, Ben Godfrey, and Ollie Watkins. White collected 36 appearances in the recent campaign, and his name popped up in the rumor mill as a target for the Premier League top clubs. England will face Croatia, Scotland and Czech Republic in the group stage.
In other injury news, Matthijs De Ligt was rested in the Georgia friendly because he picked up a groin issue in practice. Italy have sent UEFA the paperwork to finalize the substitution between Stefano Sensi and Matteo Pessina. The Inter midfielder will miss the next two-to-three weeks because of an adductor strain. It is possible to replace players until the day before the opening match for each team in case of severe injuries or COVID infections. There is optimism from the Azzurri camp that the modification will ultimately be approved, SportMediaset reports.