Arsenal name 21-man Premier League squad as Mikel Arteta makes major Gabriel Jesus call

Arsenal have confirmed their squad for the 2025/26 Premier League season, and the Gunners have only used 21 of their 25 available slots. Players born after January 1, 2004 do not count towards the main list, with the rules slightly different to those for Champions League squads.

Max Dowman, Cristhian Mosquera and Tommy Setford needed to be named in the A List for Europe due to UEFA’s regulations. However, none of the three count towards the Premier League allowance of up to 25 senior players.

One man who has made the cut is Gabriel Jesus. The Brazil forward still faces some time on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury in January and isn’t part of the league phase squad for the Champions League, but will be available to play in the Premier League before the turn of the year if he returns to full fitness by then.

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“He had a major surgery that it was going to take him many, many months,” Arteta said of the forward. “So, after discussing with the medical staff and understanding the schedule that we had and when we thought that he could be available, that it would be between December and January, we decided to make the call like we’ve done it in the past with other players.

“Hopefully we did it wrong and he comes back earlier. But at the moment, the provision was very clear.”

Premier League teams are permitted up to 17 players who don’t count as ‘home grown’, with the remainder needing to fit that description. The league’s rules define home grown as “a player who, irrespective of nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).”

Only five of Arsenal’s eight home grown players are English. Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba both joined the Gunners at the age of 18, while David Raya was just 16 when he moved to England to join Blackburn’s academy, so they also qualify.

The players in Arteta’s Under-21 allowance include some with plenty of first-team minutes under their belts, such as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri. Summer signings Demiane Agustien, Callan Hamill and Remi Lupinski are also on the list, having linked up with the Gunners’ academy squad ahead of the new season.

Arsenal squad in full (*home grown): Kepa Arrizabalaga, Riccardo Calafiori, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ebere Eze*, Gabriel Jesus, Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz, Piero Hincapie, Noni Madueke*, Mikel Merino, Christian Norgaard, Martin Odegaard, David Raya*, Declan Rice*, Bukayo Saka*, William Saliba*, Gabriel Martinelli, Jurrien Timber, Leandro Trossard, Ben White*, Martin Zubimendi