Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta wants to see the Premier League make a significant rule change already implemented in the Champions League
09:57, 30 Jan 2026Updated 10:14, 30 Jan 2026
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has sent a clear request to the Premier League
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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has sent a clear request to the Premier League(Image: (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images))
Mikel Arteta has admitted he is desperate for a Premier League rule change to the amount of Arsenal players he can include in a matchday squad.
When asked about leaving the likes of Christian Norgaard out, he said: "At the moment there are two or three players that have to be out of the squad, that's a reality, I cannot change that.
"These are the rules of the Premier League next season, instead of 18 outfield players it will do 20, I beg them from here, like it's in the Champions League, because it's much better to manage the squad, to maintain the value of the players, to maintain the mental health of the players.
"Nobody wants to get out of the squad, so I beg them that if we can, between all of us, help us on that, we can bring them, we can deal with hotels, travels and all that, and that would be very, very helpful for everybody, because that's the worst thing when you need to leave somewhere.
"But at the end you have positions played, I can play in various positions and you cannot overload certain positions and weaken them, so that's normally the process to make that decision, because it's never about, if it's about how he trains, how he behaves, how he talks, how he helps everybody, it needs to be in every minute of every game."
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Norgaard played 89 minutes of Wednesday's Champions League win over Kairat with that just over a seventh of his total minutes this season.
Arteta later added: "We have a really unique job, as we have the ability to transform someone's life, job. But we also have to tell players that they cannot be included not even travel.
"Imagine if I go to one of the chefs and say, no, you go sit over there and don't good. We need bigger squads, so it doesn't make sense to restrict the squads. We can manage better the minutes, the psychological elements."
As things stand, 20 players can be included in Premier League matchday squads with the rules very different in Europe. A maximum of 23 can be named by Arteta but there are several other rulings that allow for numerous more names to feature throughout the competition.
No more than 25 players can be included in List A but further stars can be named in List B, permitting that, as stated by UEFA, "he is born on or after 1 January 2004 and has, since his 15th birthday, been eligible to play for the club concerned for any uninterrupted period of two years, or a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year".
Arsenal arguably have the deepest squad in the Premier League but that has not stopped injuries from occurring with the schedule continuing to be chaotic.
Those concerns have eased for Arteta as of late with Max Dowman seemingly the sole absentee after positive updates on Jurrien Timber and William Saliba.
Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, David Raya and Cristhian Mosquera react
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Jurrien Timber and William Saliba are available for Leeds United vs Arsenal(Image: Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
On the defensive duo, who missed the midweek victory, Arteta said: "Yeah, they are okay. Obviously, they have played a lot of minutes, they've been carrying a few niggles, and it was a really good opportunity for us to offload them a little bit and refresh them."
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Arsenal have also been managing Kai Havertz's knee problem with the start against Kairat his first in nearly one year. During his 45-minutes on the pitch, the Germany international scored a great goal and assisted Viktor Gyokeres' opener.
"Yeah, he's ready, obviously he started the day," Arteta revealed. "Obviously it's been a long period and now we need to manage that load and the games that we're going to select for him to start, but there was no reaction to that.
"I think it was super positive, you could see straight away the impact that he can have in the team, so yeah, he's ready."