Ben White says he doesn’t want to play against £874m star who Emery tried to sign at Arsenal

Ben White is one of the bravest players at Arsenal.

The Englishman is always up for a challenge and never backs away from anyone. He has gone up against the best wingers in the Premier League and has almost always come out on top.

The new Champions League format will give White and other Arsenal players the chance to face some world-class players in the early stages of the competition.

However, White has admitted that there is one player he would rather not come up against.

Arsenal star Ben White says he does not want to play against Vinicius Jr

Vinicius Jr is one of the best attackers in Europe right now.

The Brazilian has been outstanding for Real Madrid and played a big part in helping them win the Champions League in the 2023/24 season.

The Galacticos are once again among the favourites to win Europe’s most prestigious club competition, and Vinicius will be key for them.

Arsenal are also dreaming of going all the way in the Champions League this season, and at some stage, they may come up against Real Madrid, perhaps in the final if they make it there.

White has claimed that he would much rather face a smaller club because he doesn’t want to come up against Vinicius.

When Ben Foster asked who White would like Arsenal to face in the Champions League final this season, the defender replied on Amazon Prime Video: “Because I want to win it, probably someone not great.

“Yeah, half-time, 4-0 up or something like that and just play the rest of the game knowing that you are going to win.”

Foster then pointed out how every other footballer in the world would’ve picked Real Madrid or Manchester City.

White replied: “I do not want to play against Vinicius Jr! Yeah, no thank you.”

What happened when Unai Emery tried to sign Vinicius Jr for Arsenal

Unai Emery was only at Arsenal for 18 months, but he had some ambitious plans during his time at the Emirates Stadium.

Back in 2019, in the summer of before his second season as the Gunners boss, Emery had big money to spend on a new attacker.

His interest in Wilfried Zaha was well publicised, but Arsenal went and signed Nicolas Pepe instead for a then-club-record fee.

However, UOL reported that Emery also wanted to sign Vinicius from Real Madrid, who was just 19 years old at the time.

Unsurprisingly, Real Madrid rejected Arsenal and Vinicius has gone on to become a superstar at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Brazil international is protected by £874 million release clause (Independent) and is unlikely to leave the Galacticos anytime soon.