Gareth Southgate has denied claims that Ben White left the World Cup because he had a bust-up with one of the England coaches in front of the whole group.

The Daily Star’s story that claimed Ben White had left the England World Cup camp after a bust-up with Steve Holland in front of the whole group always seemed a bit iffy.

First up, it was the Daily Star that had the exclusive, but it was the inclusion of details like White turning up, not knowing his own stats or the prep for the next match that made the story whiff a bit as they referenced White’s disinterest in football away from his job.

Those things are part of his job.

The claims also didn’t seem to fit with the statement Arsenal made. Why tell White ‘we are all with you’ if the real reason he left the World Cup was because he’d not only failed to do his job properly but had also been a bit of a knob about it all?

Anyway, Gareth Southgate has denied the story while calling, once again, for White’s privacy to be respected.

Southgate told talkSPORT, “Well, not really. What I’ve been shown was alleged and there was another word that was used.

“I think by commenting on the story I could be giving it any form of credibility, really. We explained why Ben left the camp and I think it’s important that is respected, really.”

To be fair, nobody has actually explained why White left the England camp, but you get what Southgate is saying.