Mikel Arteta has insisted Ben White still has time to make England's World Cup squad and vowed to give the defender sufficient opportunities at Arsenal to stake his claim.
White has not featured for England since leaving the 2022 World Cup early for what the Football Association described at the time as "personal reasons."
Sources have told ESPN that there was also an issue between White and the coaching staff, led by then-manager Gareth Southgate and his assistant Steve Holland.
Southgate repeatedly denied reports of a bust-up but revealed in March 2024 that White had refused a call-up and did not wish to be considered for international duty.
After England reached the final of Euro 2024, Southgate stepped down to be replaced by Thomas Tuchel, who has overseen an impressive World Cup qualifying campaign comprising six wins, 18 goals scored and none conceded.
Tuchel has previously said he had positive talks with White about a return but he was not selected for England's camps in March, June, September or October. He has a final chance of the year when Tuchel names his squad a week on Friday for games against Serbia and Albania.
However, the 28-year-old has struggled for fitness this season and made just four appearances with Jurriën Timber established at right-back ahead of him. White is yet to complete 90 minutes.
Speaking ahead of Wednesday's Carabao Cup clash against Brighton, Arteta said on Tuesday: "It's still a lot of months to go and in football everything can change one way or the other and if Ben wants to do that, if Thomas believes he is the right player to do so, I'm so happy for him.
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"He will have here, I'm sure, a lot of minutes, a lot of opportunities and obviously his background talks about himself in the best possible way to give him the chance to be there.
"He had a setback, and that hasn't helped, but I think in preseason, probably, he was our best player.
"I think he played every game, and he was in great form, and we needed it because when Ben is at the level that he can show, he's a top player for us, a player that drives the team in a different way, gives us a different threat on that flank as well, and we needed him at his best."
William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli will miss the game through injury but Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori and Bukayo Saka are all available.