Paul Merson has tipped Ben White to become Arsenal’s next captain, claiming the defender ‘fits the bill’.
Former Gunners striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the club’s last skipper, but he was stripped of the captaincy following his latest disciplinary breach last December.
Alexandre Lacazette then took over for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign, while Martin Odegaard wore the armband when Lacazette wasn’t in the team.
With Lacazette departing from the Emirates Stadium when his contract expires at the end of June, Mikel Arteta will need to pick a new captain for next season.
Arsenal legend Merson thinks that new skipper will be centre-back Ben White, who impressed in his debut season at the club after a £50million move from Brighton.
‘Arsenal will have to pick a new captain next season, and I think it’ll probably be Ben White,’ Merson told Sportskeeda.
‘They need a player who can lead on the pitch with his performances, and White fits the bill.’
Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, however, believes Odegaard can ‘definitely’ become the next captain of the north London club
‘He is the future of this club,’ ex-Gunners skipper Xhaka told TV2 last month.
‘He’s already captain when Alexandre Lacazette does not play. He can be very proud of himself.
‘You can see how far he has come in his head, mentally. He is very young, only 23, but in how he behaves and is on the field, he looks like he’s 30. It looks like he has already played 500 or 600 games.
‘He can definitely become Arsenal captain. He has the DNA in him. He works as hard every day as if he were in a fight. He does a lot of extra work. He is humble. Everyone in the dressing room listens to him. Why not?’
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