Arteta adamant bigger squads are only way to cope with players’ workloads | Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta believes squad sizes must be increased to cope with the demands placed on players by the increased number of games and has warned that more will suffer serious injuries if the schedule continues to expand.

Arsenal confirmed on Thursday that Gabriel Magalhães had become the latest member of Arteta’s squad to sustain a hamstring injury, with the Brazilian set for surgery and out for the rest of the season. He joins Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Riccardo Calafiori on the sidelines, although there was better news for Arsenal on Jurriën Timber and Ben White before Saturday’s game at Everton.

Arteta said both were in contention but that no risks would be taken before Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Real Madrid. Injuries to key players have undermined Arsenal’s title challenge and Arteta said it was time to recognise that some are at breaking point given the expanded Champions League, the new Club World Cup this summer and plans to shift the start of the Africa Cup of Nations to December.

“If we demand the players to play more games in more competitions with more travel and more intensity the only solution to deal with it is more players,” the manager said. “I don’t see any other solution. I think it’s been building up for a while and during the summer there are always competitions and then you have the African cup. We’re going to have a new competition coming up now [the Club World Cup] this summer as well, so this is all adding up.

“Every month the intensity, the quality and the pressure is increasing and it’s great because we are making the game and the sport known in the world and the quality that we can deliver is high. But I think we have to be very conscious that there are certain limits that the players can do.”

Arsenal played 17 games in December and January compared with 11 last season owing to extra commitments in the Champions League and Carabao Cup, where they reached the semi-finals. Arteta outlined how challenging this campaign had been by citing the example of Gabriel. He said the defender was taken off during Arsenal’s win over West Ham in November with a grade one hamstring tear but felt fit enough to return against Fulham six days later.

“We decided not to play him,” Arteta said. “On day 12 [against Everton], he plays. But I was very tempted on day six to play him. If I would’ve played him on day six and he has the injury that he’s sustained now against Fulham and he misses four months, [makes a throat-cutting gesture] I would be hammered. So sometimes you protect the player due to knowing this could happen. And then when the player is totally protected, then this happens as well.

“There is an element that we cannot control. So we try to do our best. The medical staff, I suffer for them as well for everything that they do because I know that they feel very responsible for that … There is a lot of thought about how we make decisions.”

Kylian Mbappé and Antonio Rüdiger are clear to play for Madrid against Arsenal after they were fined for misconduct after the Champions League win over Atlético Madrid and handed one-game bans, suspended for a year. Rüdiger was fined €40,000 (£34,000) and Mbappé €30,000. Dani Ceballos was fined €20,000 but did not receive a suspended ban and no disciplinary proceedings were ultimately opened against Vinícius Júnior.