Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted that he has been “fighting” the Premier League to increase the size of matchday rosters in the push for a change of policy which would just so happen to benefit his side more than any other.
Arteta was lured into this expansion concept after Sunday’s Community Shield. Given the restrictions on squad sizes permitted by FA rules, Arsenal and Manchester City could only name nine substitutes, at least one of which had to be a goalkeeper. This forced the Gunners boss to make some particularly tough selection decisions, leaving out the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Ethan Nwaneri and bright academy prospect Marli Salmon.
“It’s really sad not to have their availability,” Arteta lamented to TNT Sports after the comfortable 3–0 win for his side. “I’ve been fighting with the Premier League to extend and accommodate more players in the squad because they deserve to be in the squad, there’s no question.
“Ethan [Nwaneri] and Marli [Salmon] as well, who has had the whole preseason with us. Hopefully we can change that rule so players can enjoy on the pitch and can be an option to play and contribute to the team going forward.”
This is no new gripe from Arteta. Back in January, the Basque boss made a similar complaint, citing the “mental health” of the players who are denied a spot in a matchday roster after spending the entire buildup to each fixture training with the first team. Yet, this is very much a problem of Arteta’s own making and one which few other clubs would want to solve for the defending Premier League champions.
What Are the Premier League Matchday Squad Rules?
Arteta should have counted himself fortunate given he was allowed to name 20 players for Sunday’s Community Shield. In the Premier League, only 18 are permitted.
Arteta has pushed for an extra two spots to get opened up to at least bring England’s allotment in line with UEFA competitions such as the Champions League, but, ideally, he would want even more substitutes at his disposal.
“You’re not even allowed to travel with the team,” the Arsenal boss fretted earlier this year. “So tell me another job that you do that. I cannot go to the kitchen tomorrow and say to two other chefs today you don’t cook, just go there and see how they cook or go home. It’s really tough.”
For all Arteta’s anguish, there were no such complaints from his City counterpart Enzo Maresca, who took advantage of the allocation to call on Jack Grealish, a player who hasn’t featured for City since May 2025.
Why Arsenal Would Benefit Most From Rule Change
In the battle for larger squads, the clubs with the deepest reserves would naturally benefit most. Yet, after several seasons of sustained spending and minimal outgoings, Arsenal’s spread of talent stretches beyond even their wealthy rivals.
Putting goalkeepers, whose inclusion is already mandated, to one side and judging the quality of the two extra players each club could feasibly include were matchday squads to be widened from 18 to 20, it’s obvious why Arteta is beating this drum.
Ranking the estimated transfer value of every Premier League roster’s outfield players, the next two cabs off the rank waiting to come into an expanded matchday squad for Arsenal would be valued at around $43.5 million. That’s comfortably above the next deepest squads in the division (Manchester City and Chelsea) while almost twice what Tottenham Hotspur’s potential extra substitutes would be worth.
|
Club |
Average Value of Two Extra Players |
|---|---|
|
Arsenal |
$43.5 million |
|
Man City |
$37.7 million |
|
Chelsea |
$32.5 million |
|
Tottenham |
$23.2 million |
|
Man Utd |
$22 million |
|
Liverpool |
$16.2 million |
|
Brighton |
$15.7 million |
|
Nottingham Forest |
$13.9 million |
|
Bournemouth |
$11.6 million |
|
Leeds |
$11.6 million |
|
Crystal Palace |
$11.6 million |
|
Brentford |
$10.4 million |
|
Aston Villa |
$7 million |
|
Everton |
$6.4 million |
|
Ipswich |
$5.8 million |
|
Newcastle |
$4.6 million |
|
Coventry |
$4.4 million |
|
Fulham |
$2.9 million |
|
Sunderland |
$2.6 million |
|
Hull |
$1.7 million |
Data via Transfermarkt. € converted to $ at prevailing rate.
Even the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool are struggling for players of established quality once they get down to the 19th and 20th names on their list of available talents. While Arteta can’t find room for Martinelli—a player Galatasaray reportedly value at around $52 million—Michael Carrick is deciding whether to give Harry Amass or Toby Collyer a spot on the bench.
This spread of talent drops sharply beyond the division’s traditional elite. The newly promoted trio of Ipswich Town, Coventry City and Hull City are expected strugglers yet even a Champions League competing side like Aston Villa wouldn’t naturally benefit from such a rule change. Unai Emery has a very strong starting XI and couple of substitutes at his disposal, but the dip in quality thereafter is precipitous.
While their status as one of the few beneficiaries from such a proposal explains why Arteta is so passionate, it also suggests it’s unlikely to come into action any time soon. All major Premier League rule changes are subjected to a vote among the 20 competing clubs, with a majority of at least 14 required to pass anything through. Turkeys don’t often vote for Christmas.
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