Christos Tzolis: Why Arsenal’s New Signing Has Plenty to Prove

The Gunners have made three additions since winning the Premier League.

Christos Tzolis is an Arsenal player. | Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC/Getty Images

Arsenal have made Christos Tzolis their third signing since winning the Premier League last season, bringing in the Greek winger from Club Brugge for a reported £34 million ($45.4 million) fee.

Tzolis follows Piero Hincapié and Illan Meslier through the door, but is the first transfer activity that fans might feel genuine excitement for, given that Hincapié was already an Arsenal player on loan last season and Meslier is a backup goalkeeper signed as a free agent.

The length of his “long-term contract” with the Gunners is not officially disclosed. He is effectively a straight replacement for Leandro Trossard on the left wing, after the aging Belgian was sold to Beşiktaş earlier this month. This is Arsenal striking while the iron is hot and seeking to carefully upgrade a squad that can already call itself reigning Premier League champions.

He will wear Arsenal’s No. 17 shirt last worn by Oleksandr Zinchenko and mostly successfully occupied in a Gunners context by Alexis Sánchez and Emmanuel Petit.

Tzolis put up big numbers for Club Brugge last season, registering 51 goals and assists in 52 appearances across all competitions. Rumor also has it he impressed Arsenal’s assistant sporting director, Maurizio Micheli, during a match for Greece against Sweden last month.

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Tzolis an ‘Excellent Finisher’

The Gunners were in the market to find someone younger than Trossard who could do the same job and Tzolis appears to tick the box. As well as thriving on the left, sporting director Andrea Berta has already spoken about his “extreme versatility” and ability to be “comfortable across the front line.”

Discussing the player’s attributes in Arsenal’s announcement statement, Berta said: “He’s an excellent finisher with both feet, thrives in tight spaces, and possesses incredible technical ability.

“Christos has produced outstanding numbers in terms of goals and assists over the last three seasons, and he’s a player who will raise the technical level of our squad, while bringing positive energy, enthusiasm, and a strong mentality to our team. We’re confident Christos will make a significant contribution to our club, and we hope our supporters will enjoy watching him play.”

Tzolis himself told Arsenal.com: “I'm a direct player, I go for goals or assists. That’s my point of view as an attacker, as a winger. I’m always hungry to score or to give the final pass to my teammates. And I can say I work hard for the team, also in the defensive part.”

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Tzolis Addresses Previous Premier League Struggles

Tzolis barely made an impact at Norwich City. | Stephen Pond/Getty Images

Tzolis has prior experience of the Premier League, having previously been signed by Norwich City as a 19-year-old. But at such an early stage of his career, it was tough playing for a team that finished bottom of the league. He spent most of the season—2021–22—on the bench and failed to contribute a direct goal involvement in the 14 matches he did play.

Tzolis began the following season with Norwich in the EFL Championship, but joined FC Twente on loan for the second part of the campaign. A prolific season in 2. Bundesliga with Fortuna Düsseldorf appears to have been the reset he needed, scoring 22 times in the league alone, and prompting Club Brugge to gamble with a transfer worth the equivalent of around $6.8 million in 2024.

“I can say more or less that I know the level of the Premier League,” Tzolis said, looking back. “I know it’s the best league in the world. Of course, it’s different if you play for Norwich or Arsenal, I think you have the ball more as a player of Arsenal. We attack more the other teams.

“It’s very physical, the league and the quality is very high, so I’m prepared for that. Also in the Champions League it’s quite high, so I believe every game is like a Champions League game here in Premier League.”

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Tzolis Must Overcome Hurdles

The Premier League is a different beast to Belgian soccer. | JASPER JACOBS/BELGA MAG/Belga/AFP/Getty Images

Tzolis is far from the first Greek player in the Premier League, but Brighton youngsters Charalampos Kostoulas and Stefanos Tzimas are the only other active Greeks at this time. The list of past players isn’t exactly star-studded either, so Tzolis has the chance to do something pretty special if he can justify Arsenal’s faith and replicate anything even remotely close to his Club Brugge numbers.

The best Greek player in Premier League history is currently Stelios Giannakopoulos, who was a major part of Bolton Wanderers punching well above their weight in the mid-2000s. Nikos Dabizas stuck around for seven years and holds the record for most Premier League appearances by a Greek (148), while José Holebas had some strong seasons at Watford.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Stathis Tavlaridis are Arsenal’s three former Greek players, who had only limited impact.

The other uphill battle for Tzolis is moving from the Belgian Pro League, which is considered Europe’s 12th strongest domestic league in 2026–27.

Belgium to England is not necessarily a path know for its high success rate, and the majority of Belgian players who thrive in the Premier League—Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen—typically come via other better leagues.

Senne Lammens was named last season’s Premier League Transfer of the Season in his first year at Manchester United after moving from Royal Antwerp. But the goalkeeper is largely an exception.

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