Mikel Arteta has defended Martin Ødegaard's captaincy amid criticism from former Arsenal skipper Tony Adams by revealing the players voted overwhelming for him to keep the armband this season.
Adams claimed Arsenal "are not going to win the league with Ødegaard as captain" and called for Arteta to name Declan Rice as skipper instead.
However, Arteta said on Friday the squad had the opportunity to reshuffle the leadership group following the departure of experienced midfielder Jorginho but opted to retain Ødegaard, who has been skipper since 2022.
"My opinion is clear and it is not just my opinion, it is all the staff and especially the players," Arteta told reporters. "I asked them to vote for the captain and I got the results yesterday.
"By a mile, by 100 miles, everybody chose the same person which is Martin Ødegaard. Which is the most clear sign you can have is how they feel about who has to be their captain, to defend, improve and win the matches we want to win. I think there is no question about that.
"We can talk about leadership and the kind of leaders, we can be here for hours.
"At the end what matters most is how these guys feel about who needs to lead them, how they feel comfortable, who is going to push them, who is going to give them support when it is happening and basically who do you want to represent the club and the team when we go out there and face any opposition? That's the key."
Arteta also voiced his hope that this season's rule changes will be applied more consistently this season after falling foul of last year's alterations.
Officials sought to clamp down on timewasting with both Declan Rice and Leandro Trossard sent off for kicking the ball away in the first six games of last season.
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Asked how he guards against a repeat after the league indicated plans to clamp down on various offences including holding at corners and goalkeepers retaining possession for too long, Arteta said: "It was very particular [last season]. And they only lasted for a few weeks and we were really punished for those few weeks.
"But hopefully it won't happen. Again, I think they have been very clear. We have had very good meetings with the referees when they came here and in the managers' meeting as well.
"I think it is very clear what to expect and I wish everybody the best. I think we are going to need the best of all of us to have the best Premier League ever, which I think is going to happen, and hopefully we are going to come out on top of that.
"A lot of the data says there have been many, many improvements over the last year or two. We need to reinforce that message, trust that process and support it."