Why Riccardo Calafiori and Christian Norgaard were left out of Arsenal squad amid hope of rule change | OneFootball

Arsenal’s improving fitness record left Mikel Arteta with a difficult decision against Newcastle

The Italy international has not played for Arsenal since completing 90 minutes in the Champions League quarter-final first leg win over Sporting CP on April 7.

However, after missing the second leg as well as defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City, there was hope that Calafiori would return to action against Newcastle after being declared fit by Arteta on Friday.

It is not known yet whether the versatile defender will be available for Arsenal’s Champions League semi-final showdown away at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night, or the home game against Fulham next weekend.

Discussing Calafiori’s absence, Arteta said: “He was very close, but we have certain players that are coming back from injuries and can play certain moments as well, and we need to be balanced in what we need to."

Riccardo Calafiori has now missed Arsenal’s last four games

Getty

Another absentee from the Arsenal squad against Newcastle was Christian Norgaard, denied the chance to add to his 56 minutes of Premier League action this season.

The experienced Denmark international is not injured, with the Gunners boss explaining that Premier League rules regarding a 20-man matchday squad was the deciding factor in the decision to leave out Norgaard.

Arteta added: “Because these guys have been exceptional, I understand that. We had to leave two players out of the squad at the end, Mikel [Merino] is out and there were Christian and Richi [Calafiori], so that's going to happen.

“As I said, if the Premier League allows us to have 20 or 22 players, we can have everybody involved and hopefully next season that will be the case.”