Unai Emery has indicated he will not name Arsenal's club captain until September because he is waiting to see how his squad looks by the time the transfer window closes at the end of this month.
Emery has three of the five skippers he wants to have in his squad confirmed - Granit Xhaka, Mesut Ozil and Nacho Monreal - but is yet to confirm who will succeed Laurent Koscielny as the club captain.
It means that for the opening home game of the season Arsenal will not have the captain's notes that are a staple of matchday programmes with Xhaka instead tasked with providing a "view from the dressing room" alongside Unai Emery's comments.
Xhaka captained the side against Newcastle but is a fitness doubt for the side to take on Burnley on Saturday due to bruising on his back and leg. Mesut Ozil could also miss that game; he has been suffering from illness and along with Sead Kolasinac missed the trip to the north east amid security concerns that followed an incident involving the pair in Golders Green last month.
Monreal could well captain the side for the home opener but who wears the armband in the long term is still up for debate.
"At the moment there is no change," Emery said when asked whether a club captain would be in place in time for the visit of the Clarets tomorrow.
"We have three captains but because some circumstances are meaning it is taking more time to do that meeting and close with the five captains.
"One, Mesut and Sead's circumstances were last week. Two, we close the transfer window last week for England but it continues to be open for Europe.
"In August, my focus really, really is that we are with three captains, we are going to play matches this month and to finish how we will have our squad at the end of the month.
"We are in our way but playing important matches and also our squad is not finished today how it will look when the transfer market finishes in Europe."
Emery named a quintet of captains last season but three - Koscielny, Petr Cech and Aaron Ramsey - left the club in the summer. However Emery is insistent that his Arsenal squad is not lacking in leadership.
"The football is changing," he said. "And they started also, one day, being the captain: Petr Cech, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey. Now it's the moment for another player.
"More young players, players with some experienced. I think also Xhaka, Mesut and Nacho are experienced players and the 'captain' at the moment.
"I want also to achieve two more, to have five players 'like a captain'. That will bring a responsibility to help me, to help the club, to communicate with me, the club and the other players, and have the leadership in the dressing-room and on the pitch."
Emery has previously said he wants one of his five captains to be English, opening the door to either Rob Holding or Calum Chambers, whilst Hector Bellerin, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Bernd Leno have all been mentioned as potential leaders.
One player who will not be among the captaincy group, Emery confirmed last week, is new signing David Luiz. However the centre-back could make his first start of the season against Burnley.
Fellow new signings Nicolas Pepe and Dani Ceballos may have to wait for their debuts.
"David Luiz is ready to play on Saturday," Emery said. "Pepe is closer to play in the first XI and really we are seeing that improvement in each training.
"Ceballos can be with more minutes if we need him and also training with us are Mesut and Sead, it is more important to have more options and be competitive in the first XI and on the bench."
