Mikel Arteta jokes he may use an interesting loophole to overcome one Premier League rule change

There are a few new rules implemented by the Premier League ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Defending champions Arsenal and every other club in the division have been informed of those changes and will have to abide by them in the upcoming campaign.

Illan Meslier was already punished by a new rule in pre-season for wasting time, but that isn’t the only one that has been implemented.

Mikel Arteta has now had his say on another rule change.

Mikel Arteta reacts after Premier League bans the use of towels during games

Players usually make use of towels to dry the ball before taking throw-ins.

The rise in long throws has increased the need to remove as much moisture from the ball as you can before a player launches it into the box.

Last season, the rule was that towels could be used as long as both teams agreed to do so before the start of the game. This time, the Premier League have banned it altogether.

During Arteta’s press conference ahead of the Community Shield, the Arsenal boss was asked about all the different rules implemented for the upcoming campaign.

The Spaniard mentioned the ban on towels and joked that he may make his players wear hats and use them to dry the ball before throw-ins.

He said when asked to name which rule will have the biggest impact, as relayed on HaytersTV: “Not being able to use towels is already a big one in the Premier League.

“Let’s see what we do. Maybe we play with hats? I don’t know (smiles). Something else will come up for sure. We know that everybody is paying attention to the details.”

Ban on towels should not affect Arsenal

Rival fans all seem to think that Arsenal will struggle with their long throws following the ban on towels in the upcoming campaign.

However, it won’t matter at all.

That’s because the Gunners have never really been good with long throws in recent years – it’s just a narrative created by rival fans and some sections of the media.

What Arsenal are excellent at, however, are corners and free-kicks, and we expect them to score even more goals from them this season following the additions of Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis.