On the other hand, you had a significant portion of Spurs faithful hoping for the exact opposite and club captain Son Heung-min must've felt that permeating from the stands, as in the 85th minute, with the scores level, he completely fluffed his lines in a one-v-one with Stefan Ortega.
son-heung-min-tottenham-premier-league
So, by making a mistake, the South Korean was able to once again rain on the Gunners' Premier League parade, although at least the red side of North London can hold on to the fact that their first-choice right-back, Ben White, is worth twice as much as their new number one enemy - now that's parade-worthy.
Ben White's Arsenal career
Arsenal signed White from fellow Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion in July 2021 and were immediately criticised for spending around £50m on a player with just a single season of top-flight experience.
ben-white-arsenal-premier-league
Former Chelsea and Arsenal defender William Gallas - the fount of reasonable takes - claimed it was "difficult" to understand why Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar signed off on the deal, questioning whether the Spanish manager and Brazilian sporting director did it "because Ben White is English."
Amidst the confusion surrounding his transfer, the Poole-born "warrior", as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, put together a strong first campaign under Arteta, making 37 appearances - mostly at centre-back - and helping the team finish higher than eighth for the first time in two years.
The following season saw the Englishman move to right-back to make way for the arrival of William Saliba, and while detractors such as Gabby Agbonlahor claimed the Arsenal man would "get found out playing right-back," he has gone on to become even more important to the side.
White's Arsenal career
Position
Centre-Back
Right-Back
Starts
39
87
Goals
0
5
Assists
0
10
Goal Involvements per Match
0.00
0.17
All Stats via Transfermarkt
In all, the 26-year-old has started 87 games for Arteta on the right side of the defence, in which he has scored five goals, provided ten assists and won two Player of the Month awards at the club.
Ultimately, while there was once an element of doubt as to where the £50m man would play - if at all - in the team, he has since gone on to become one of the first names on the teamsheet, perhaps behind only Bukayo Saka, Saliba, and Declan Rice, and his recent valuation reflects that fact.
Ben White's valuation in 2024
According to the CIES Football Observatory, White is now worth €60m, which converts to around £51m, or £1m more than the Gunners paid for him almost three years ago.
The most valuable full-backs in London
Place
Player
Valuation
Club
1
Destiny Udogie
€80m (£68m)
Tottenham Hotspur
2
Pedro Porro
€60m (£51m)
Tottenham Hotspur
2
Ben White
€60m (£51m)
Arsenal
3
Levi Colwill
€50m (£43m)
Chelsea
4
Malo Gusto
€40m (£34m)
Chelsea
4
Jakub Kiwior
€40m (£34m)
Arsenal
5
Marc Cucurella
€30m (£26m)
Chelsea
All Valuations via the CIES Football Observatory
This new price tag also means that Arsenal's number four is now the joint-second most valuable full-back in London alongside Spurs' Pedro Porro and just behind their exciting young left-back Destiny Udogie.
However, the former Seagulls ace is now worth twice as much as the man who broke Arsenal hearts last week, Son, whom the CIES price at just €30m, or about £26m.
Ben-White-Arsenal
Now, this isn't down to a lack of quality, as in his 36 games this season, the Chuncheon-born star scored 17 goals and provided ten assists, meaning he averaged a goal involvement every 1.33 games.
Instead, it's most likely due to the fact that his current £190k-per-week contract expires next June and that he is turning 32 this summer.
son-heung-min-tottenham-premier-league
Of course, players can play at the top level well into their 30s these days, but the fact is that there often is a drop off in output once they are sufficiently past their prime, which, according to research done by The Athletic, is around 26 years old for wingers.
At the end of the day, the former Tottenham captain is still a very effective player, but the fact he's worth only half as much as Arsenal's number one right-back might just help Gooners everywhere cope with the fact that he wasn't quite effective enough the one time they needed him to be
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