Sky Sports duo compare Leeds United loanee Ben White to Rio Ferdinand and John Terry

White joined Leeds on a season-long loan from the Seagulls back in July with the defender arriving without having played a game in either of English football's top two tiers.

After two outings for Brighton in the EFL Cup and a handful of appearances for the club's under-21s in the EFL Trophy, White spent the 2017-18 campaign in League Two on loan at Newport County for whom he made 51 appearances.

Two of those outings came against Leeds - in the 5-1 loss at Elland Road in August's EFL Cup tie and also the 2-1 victory against United at Rodney Parade in January in the FA Cup third round. White played 90 minutes in both.

The defender then made further progress at Brighton at the start of the following campaign with the defender making the bench for December's Premier League clash at Burnley.

White then spent the second half of the campaign in League One on loan at Peterborough United for whom the defender made 14 starts and one appearance off the bench.

The defender then arrived at a Leeds side who had just sold talismanic centre-back Pontus Jansson to Brentford but White has played every single minute of every league game so far for Marcelo Bielsa's Championship leading side.

A host of Premier League sides are understood to be monitoring the 22-year-old's progress with the defender already being tipped as a future England international.

And Andrews says White reminds him of a particular former England international who made 75 caps for his country in former Leeds, West Ham and Manchester United defender turned England captain Ferdinand with Andrews also comparing White to a young John Stones.

Fellow Sky pundit Hinchcliffe has also compared White to a young Gary Cahill or even John Terry.

As part of a 'Leeds' Ben White: EFL future star' feature, Andrews said: "I think when you look at the profile of him as a centre-half, the thing that sticks out is what he does on the ball and the comparisons maybe in recent seasons are John Stones, Rio Ferdinand when he was a young player.

"That elegant way they have of stepping out from the back and picking the right passes more often than not.

"I think the way he's gone about his career, the way he's been advised by whoever is around him, but also Brighton Football Club have got this path perfect for him.

"The steps he's taken in his career, for me, has been nigh-on perfect. Go to Newport, earn your stripes. Get beat up a little bit in League Two because it's more physical.

"Next step, Peterborough. More of a ball-playing League One side where risks are taken at the back - they are renowned for it.

"Then it's the Litmus test. If you go to Leeds United, you have to replace Pontus Jansson who is a cult hero at that football club. How do you react week in, week out to playing at that type of level, that type of intensity and he's passed them all with flying colours."

Andrews added: "For me, he'll be in that Brighton team next season without a shadow of a doubt because with the market the way it's probably going to go in the summer, I don't think they will get the price that would make them sell.

"When you look at the profile again, what attributes has he got? He's Graham Potter's type of centre-half. We've seen it in his Ostersunds side, we've seen it at Swansea and the centre-half he bought at Brighton, (Adam) Webster, has similar types of characteristics, so you can tell the type of centre-half he likes.

"I would imagine Ben White fits really nicely into that."

Also assessing whether Whites attributes made him comparable to any previous Premier League defenders, Hinchcliffe said: "I totally agree with Stones and Ferdinand but also, you put a bit of John Terry or Gary Cahill in there, which I think he's got, imagine the centre-half.

"I would say, if you've got a centre-forward on the edge of the box, looking to drill a ball goalwards, is he going to throw himself in the way? And he will throw himself in the way. He doesn't just see himself as a ball-playing centre-half.

"You are putting pressure on a player who is well thought of anyway but you start thinking Stones, Ferdinand, Cahill, Terry, people start thinking this guy is the new Franz Beckenbauer.

"He's earned his stripes in the lower leagues and I think that's hugely beneficial to him but clearly the talent that he's got, he's a Premier League footballer and he needs to play against Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane.

"He needs to play against these world-class centre-forwards because Premier League centre-forwards are a different animal compared to anything else he's faced."

Hinchcliffe added: "You look at what Bielsa has done for every player at Leeds. He's revolutionised how they play, how they think about the game as well. Look at Kalvin Phillips. "Ben White will be challenged mentally as well as physically because it's a hard regime Bielsa runs but he'll also ask a lot of questions of him tactically.

"He's played him in midfield; remember ([Pep) Guardiola did that with John Stones and Stones didn't look completely comfortable with that whereas White - OK, it is the Championship - wasn't fazed by that because he's working on his intelligence, his spacial awareness.

"It's very difficult for a centre-half. I know what it's like as a full-back stepping into midfield; the picture changes completely. White stepping into midfield looked like a midfield player.

"So again, coming into the stage of development he's in, the timing of working with someone so intense, so experienced, he'll learn so much.

"Graham Potter must be thinking this is brilliant. He's out playing successful football with Leeds, he might well get them promoted, he comes back to me a better player because he's been working under Bielsa."

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