Mikel Arteta Reacts to New Premier League Towel Ban

Mikel Arteta has bristled at a new Premier League directive banning players from using towels to dry the ball before throw-ins, warning it will change how teams attack from set pieces in the final third.

Arsenal leaned heavily on the long-throw ability of Ben White and Declan Rice last season, often turning routine restarts into improvised corners. Now, that weapon has been blunted.

“Not being able to use the towels is already a big one,” Arteta said in his press conference, half-smiling as he searched for workarounds. Then came the punchline: “Let’s see what we do. Maybe we will play with hats on!”

The joke landed, but the irritation behind it was real. For years, towels sat in a grey area of the laws, allowed only if both clubs agreed before kick-off. That ambiguity exploded into view last season when Riccardo Calafiori tried to use a towel near the Newcastle United goal. Referee Jarred Gillett stepped in, confiscated it, and made clear that no pre-match agreement meant no towel.

Now there is no debate. No towels. No slow, deliberate wipe-downs. No carefully staged pauses before hurling the ball into the box. One of last season’s most divisive tactics has been stripped away.

The decision sits inside a much broader clampdown on time-wasting across English football, with the league determined to squeeze more actual football into the 90 minutes. The Premier League is rolling out countdowns for goal-kicks and throw-ins and tightening the windows in which substitutions can be made, all with the same aim: keep the game moving.

The medical side is being sharpened as well. Injury protocols are being rewritten to deter tactical pauses. Outfield players who receive treatment must now stay off the pitch for at least one minute. Crucially, if a goalkeeper needs attention, one outfield player from that team must also leave the field for a minute. The message is clear: feign fatigue or cramps, and your team plays short.

Arsenal know this territory. They have been accused of pushing the limits before. Brighton manager Fabian Hurzeler publicly called out David Raya last season after the goalkeeper went down for treatment three times in a narrow 1-0 Arsenal win, hinting at gamesmanship rather than genuine injury.

Arteta, though, insists his squad will adapt quickly to the new landscape.

“We have had the Premier League and the referees there with us to explain and go through everything,” he said. “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.”

The towels are gone. The margins get tighter. For a coach who obsesses over restarts and tiny details, the challenge is simple: find the next edge before everyone else does.