4 years after Norwich City recruited Christos Tzolis for a fee of 10 million Euros, the Greek winger returned to the Premier League in Arsenal's colors for a price four times higher.
Norwich deserves to be recognized for early discovery of Tzolis's potential when bringing him back from PAOK. However, the fact that this team let the Greek player leave too early was a regrettable decision.
After a period of struggling due to continuous coach changes, fewer playing opportunities and relegation with Norwich, Tzolis was loaned to Fortuna Dusseldorf in August 2023 with a buyout clause.
That again became a major turning point in his career. In the German second division, Tzolis exploded with more than 20 goals, persuading Fortuna to activate a buyout clause in the summer of 2024. Not long after, the German team sold him to Club Brugge for a fee of about 6.5 million Euros.
Tzolis is a right-footed winger but often plays on the left flank. Besides, he can also take on many other positions in attack.
Arsenal's new signing has just experienced an explosive season in Club Brugge's colors with 22 goals and 29 assists in all competitions, and was also voted Player of the Season in the Belgian national championship.
Although only scoring 2 goals and having one assist in the Champions League, Tzolis is still considered to be beyond the domestic league. Therefore, Arsenal's choice of him to replace Leandro Trossard is not too surprising.
The most outstanding strength in Tzolis's playing style is his ability to finish with his right foot. Most of his goals come from situations starting on the left wing, before bonding into the center, exploiting the space between the wing-back and the opponent's center-back and then launching shots with strength and dangerous curves.
Tzolis is also a very confident finishing player. On average last season, he took 3.1 shots per 90 minutes, reflecting the freedom that Club Brugge gives him as well as the team's attacking system being built around the ability to create breakthroughs from the left flank.
Despite possessing high scoring efficiency, Tzolis's expected goal difference (xG) for each shot is only 0.14. This shows three notable points.
First, Club Brugge uses him as a winger, ready to give the right to shoot when the ball is brought to favorable areas.
Second, the Belgian team's attacking style depends quite a lot on Tzolis's ability to create breakthroughs.
Third, the Greek player can still improve his ability to choose the finishing time. The question is whether Mikel Arteta will give him similar freedom at Arsenal, as well as whether he can maintain his influence against the better quality defenses and higher intensity in the Premier League.
Another strength of Tzolis is his ability to use both legs. Although he is right-footed, he can still dribble, cross early, pass back or finish with his left foot from many different angles.
Besides scoring, Tzolis is also very good at stretching the opponent's defense with fast dribbling, short combinations around the penalty area and smart runs. Many of his assists come from one-touch combinations before giving decisive passes to teammates.
The combination of scoring ability and effective coordination is a rare quality in a young player. This is also the reason Arsenal believes that Tzolis is capable of contributing two-digit goals and assists in the Premier League.
The ability to perform set pieces is also a factor that Arteta appreciates Tzolis. From free kicks or corner kicks, the Greek player creates powerful, accurate, and very uncomfortable spiral balls.
Although not sure to replace Declan Rice to become the main set-piece taker of Arsenal, Tzolis still brings another quality option for the team that is very strong in dead balls.
