Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus ruled out for 'a few weeks' as Mikel Arteta calls for 10 substitutes and bigger squads

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Jesus could be sidelined for "a few weeks" with a muscle injury.

The Brazil international was substituted with nine minutes remaining in Arsenal's 2-1 win over Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League with a hamstring niggle.

This injury lay-off for Jesus, the former Manchester City forward, will be his second of the season after he missed the campaign's commence when he underwent knee surgery in the summer.

He returned to Premier League action as an injury-time substitute in Arsenal's 2-2 draw against Fulham, and has since scored one goal in seven league games.

The 26-year-old was instrumental as the focal point of the Gunners' attack last season, scoring 11 goals and assisting six in his maiden season on the red side of north London.

Arteta, who previously worked with Jesus at City, has called for the Premier League to expand clubs' squad sizes to protect player welfare, as well as increasing the number of substitutes allowed in a game to 10.

Currently, clubs are allowed to register 25-man rosters, and within that, must include eight players who are classified as being 'home-grown' in England.

“If we have more games, more competitiveness and physically the standards are higher - by playing more minutes - we have to do that or instead of five subs, we have 10,” said Arteta.

“The five subs is now something normal but it was a big fight to go from three to five.

“I cannot imagine the game in the conditions we are in today after last year and the World Cup without five subs, it would be so difficult.

“If the calendar extends, for sure we would have to think of not dropping the quality. The only way to do it is players have to have certain availability and you need players to pick.

“It’s about everybody. When is this going to stop and how long will it take for us to make the right decisions.

“The laws will change and probably our capacity to do things during games will change as well. We will have to adapt, for sure.”

Arsenal's injury list currently includes Jesus, as well as midfielder Thomas Partey, and Jurrien Timber is a longer-term absentee.

Bukayo Saka, the talismanic right-winger, has also struggled with a hamstring pull in recent weeks, while Leandro Trossard and William Saliba also had to pull out of international duty after hamstring and toe issues respectively.

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