Ben White immediately became close with Kalvin Phillips when they met at Leeds and afaik are still close, so I'm definitely not buying the idea that he was some kind of arse who didn't like any of his teammates. Phillips' definitely the type to try and get him involved with other groups and mixing as well, so if he hasn't it suggests some other issue.
Star story definitely feels like it's adding 2+2 and getting 157. Might have had a bit of a tiff with Holland or something but I doubt that's why the sent him home. As others have pointed out, it just doesn't line up with a lot of things and you'd think it would be all over the place if it was because of that instead of just in the Star. I can believe an argument with Holland and them seeing that as a sign that there's something not right with him and going from there, but I'd be really surprised if the story is the whole truth.