Arteta Advocates for Larger Premier League Squads

Mikel Arteta walked away from Cardiff with a 3-0 Community Shield win over Manchester City and a familiar problem on his mind. Not tactics. Not injuries. Paperwork.

Arteta pushes for bigger squads

The Arsenal manager is lobbying the league and its clubs to expand matchday squads, arguing that England’s top flight should fall in line with UEFA competitions and allow 23 players instead of 20.

"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," Arteta said.

Right now, Premier League sides can name 20 players on a teamsheet: 11 starters and nine substitutes. UEFA competitions offer more room, with 23-man squads and extra spots on the bench. For managers juggling heavy schedules and deep squads, that gap matters.

Arteta felt it sharply on Sunday.

Big win, big omissions

Arsenal dismantled City in Cardiff, but the post-match conversation quickly turned to those who never even pulled on a bib.

William Saliba and Jurrien Timber were straightforward absentees, both ruled out through injury. Timber still travelled and was spotted at the stadium, a visible reminder of Arsenal’s defensive depth even when not fit enough to play.

Illan Meslier was there too. The goalkeeper made the trip, took part in the warm-up, then disappeared from the official squad list. That’s standard in domestic competition for a third-choice keeper. In Europe, it’s a different story. With more bench slots, the likes of Meslier are routinely included.

It was the same last season with Tommy Setford, who often travelled to domestic fixtures, trained with the squad, then missed out on the matchday list entirely, only to be named in Champions League squads all the way to the semi-final.

On Sunday, Meslier wasn’t the only one squeezed out.

Arteta had to leave Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri, Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, and Reiss Nelson out of the squad altogether against City. Under UEFA rules, at least two of them could have been involved.

For a manager, that’s not a tactical tweak. It’s a cut.

"It's just a shame (to leave players out), so it's the most difficult part of the job," Arteta admitted. "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 win over City underlined Arsenal’s strength in depth. The squad list underlined the problem of having it.

Resistance on the horizon

Arteta’s push will not go unchallenged.

Smaller clubs are expected to resist any increase, arguing that an expanded bench only widens the gap. Big teams can flood the touchline with international-quality options; others simply cannot. Some clubs would struggle to name 23 fully fit senior players at all.

Yet the landscape is changing. Almost half the Premier League now plays in Europe each season. For those clubs, the switch between UEFA rules and domestic restrictions creates a weekly contrast: 23 players one night, 20 the next.

The pool of teams that would never realistically fill a 23-man squad is shrinking.

Arteta has already made his move. The question now is whether the rest of the league is ready to follow him – or happy to leave three seats empty.