Mikel Arteta says he’s 'fighting with the Premier League’ to make rule change ahead of new season

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says he is "fighting with the Premier League" to make a rule change after he was forced to make some difficult decisions ahead of Sunday's Community Shield against Manchester City.

Several players were left out of Arsenal's squad for their clash with City, including Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Martinelli, who continues to be linked with a move away from the North London club.

The Gunners eased to victory over Enzo Maresca's side, with goals from Riccardo Calafiori, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard sealing a 3-0 win at the Principality Stadium.

But the decision to drop some of his players was clearly on Arteta's mind as he spoke about those who missed out on the celebrations in Cardiff, as he mentioned the rule around matchday squads.

The 44-year-old, who wants the Premier League to increase matchday squads from 20 players to 23, was permitted to name nine players in the Community Shield matchday squad on top of his starting XI.

When asked about some of the exclusions from his squad, Arteta told TNT Sports: "Really sad to not have their availability. I have been fighting with the Premier League to extend them and to accommodate more players in the squad.

"They deserve to be in the squad. Hopefully we can change that rule."

READ MORE: Arsenal duo expected to leave club after being left out of Community Shield squad

Gabriel Martinelli was left out of Arsenal's latest squad. Image credit: Getty

Mikel Arteta responds after Premier League ban towels from being used to dry balls

After scoring a huge number of set-piece goals last season, Arteta is understandably frustrated by the Premier League's decision to ban towels when it comes to throw-ins.

In the build-up to Sunday's game, Arteta was asked which of the new rules will have the biggest impact on the game. He replied: "Not being able to use the towels is already a big one."

Arteta added: "We have had the Premier League and the referees there with us to explain and go through everything. In pre-season we had the opportunity to see and experience some of them.

“We will have to see when the season starts and how this unfolds and what is more doable and what is less doable and what we need to adapt.

“We know that everybody is paying so much to the details, all the restarts and the countdowns, that will bring something else, a different dynamic, different momentum.

"So I am very curious to see. They are really good rules because what we are doing is trying to promote more game time and the fluidity of the games which is better and hopefully that will work.”