Mesut Ozil was a surprise omission from Arsenal's squad to face Manchester City in their first game back following the Premier League restart.
Despite being able to make five substitutes from an increased bench of nine players during each game, Ozil was not among Arteta's 20 players selected to face Pep Guardiola's City at the Etihad.
Mikel Arteta revealed after the game that Ozil's omission was "a tactical reason", and not down to any injury issues - but when pressed on why he wasn't included in the squad given a bigger bench, the coach added: "I need players in other positions so I decided to leave him out."
Arteta's response will surely raise the prospect that the former Germany international could be on his way out this summer.
It was a miserable return to the Etihad for Arteta, with Arsenal going on to lose 3-0. The coach said: "Everything went wrong from the first minute when Granit Xhaka got injured and we had to change the plan.
"Every possible accident hopefully happened today and not in the rest of the 10 games we have ahead of us."
But Arteta would not criticise the hapless David Luiz - at fault for the first goal before being sent off for conceding a penalty (which City scored their second from) - and said the night would have no bearing on a decision to exercise the option on his contract.
"He has spoken in the dressing room," Arteta said. "David is someone who is very honest, straightforward, I'm sure he will talk to you guys and explain his feelings.
"But my opinion has changed from the moment I joined the team and it won't change because of a difficult performance tonight."
