Arteta Advocates for Expanded Player Squads in Premier League

Mikel Arteta left Wembley with a 3-0 win over Manchester City and the Community Shield in his hands – and an argument he’s determined to take to the Premier League boardroom.

The scoreline was emphatic. The squad list was not.

Big win, bigger headache

While Arsenal cruised past City in Cardiff, the conversation around the club quickly turned to the names missing from the teamsheet.

William Saliba and Jurrien Timber were straightforward absentees, both sidelined by injury. Timber still made the trip, visible around the squad as he continues his recovery. Illan Meslier was there too, suited up but not listed among the substitutes – a familiar fate for a third-choice goalkeeper in domestic competition.

And that, Arteta believes, is exactly the problem.

Under Premier League rules, managers can name 20 players on a matchday: 11 starters and nine substitutes. In UEFA competitions, the limit rises to 23, opening three extra places that can prove crucial for rotation, development, and cover across the pitch.

Arsenal felt that squeeze on Sunday.

Alongside Meslier, Arteta had to leave out Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Reiss Nelson entirely. All fit enough to be considered. None able to even sit on the bench.

In Europe, at least two of them would almost certainly have been involved.

Arteta’s push for change

Arteta has decided he’s had enough of that compromise.

"I've been trying to persuade the Premier League and the clubs to be able to extend the number of players that we can have, especially the outfield players in the squads, because we play more and more games and the load is unreal," he said after the game.

He didn’t dress it up. For him, this is not a tactical luxury; it’s a workload issue.

"It's just a shame (to leave players out), so it's the most difficult part of the job. It's just a fact that we can bring 18 outfield players and we believe that for today's game these were the options that we needed, especially with the physical condition of certain players."

The numbers tell their own story. Under current rules, managers can select 18 outfield players plus two goalkeepers. Arteta wants that outfield quota lifted to match UEFA’s 23-player squads, giving coaches more room to manage minutes and protect players in a calendar that grows heavier every season.

The looming divide

Not everyone will welcome that idea.

Smaller clubs are expected to resist any change. From their perspective, expanding the bench only strengthens the hand of the elite, handing them more options, more flexibility, and more ways to overwhelm opponents late in games.

Some sides may not even be able to fill a 23-man squad with fully fit senior professionals on a regular basis. For them, an expanded bench risks becoming a symbol of the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

But the landscape of the league has shifted. Almost half of the Premier League now competes in Europe each season, operating under one set of rules midweek and another at the weekend. For those clubs, the adjustment from a 23-man squad in UEFA competition to a 20-man limit domestically feels increasingly outdated.

Arteta has planted his flag: more games, more risk, more strain – and, in his view, not enough players allowed to help carry that burden.

The question now is whether the league follows his lead, or leaves managers to keep making brutal calls on who doesn’t even get a seat on the bench.