Tzolis joins the defending Premier League champions after a remarkable season where he recorded 51 goal contributions.
After winning the Premier League and reaching the Champions League Final last season, Mikel Arteta is still looking to strengthen his side. The latest big signing is winger Christos Tzolis, who was unstoppable last season as Club Brugge won the Jupiler Pro League. Arsenal will pay €40 million to sign the 24-year-old, per David Ornstein and The Athletic.
The Greek winger is Club Brugge’s new record sale, surpassing the reported €37.5 million that Milan paid for Charles de Ketelaere in 2022. It is unlikely that the Belgian side’s summer is done any time soon, too. Several of their key players, including Joel Ordóñez and Nicolò Tresoldi, are attracting interest from top clubs. Midfielder Aleksandar Stanković has already made an expensive return to Italy with Internazionale.
This will not be Tzolis’ first stint in the Premier League. The winger was only 19 when he left PAOK Thessaloniki, joining Daniel Farke and Norwich City. His debut couldn’t have gone better, as he scored two goals and assisted two in a 6-0 win over AFC Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup. However, Tzolis struggled for minutes as the season progressed. He recorded no more goal contributions as Norwich finished last in the Premier League.
The following summer, he was loaned to FC Twente, but struggled with injuries and made just five starts in the Eredivisie. His loan was cut short in February, and Tzolis returned to Norwich, now led by David Wagner, the third manager since his arrival. However, Tzolis’ role remained very limited after his return to England, and he made three starts as Norwich finished midtable in the Championship.
Tzolis got his big break in August 2023 when he was loaned to Fortuna Düsseldorf. In Germany, the winger reached another level, finishing as the joint-top goalscorer in the 2. Bundesliga with a remarkable 22 goals. He recorded six assists, too, as Düsseldorf chased a return to the Bundesliga. Tzolis recorded an assist in a 3-0 first-leg win over VfL Bochum in the promotion playoff.
However, Düsseldorf lost the second leg 3-0 and lost on penalties, although Arsenal fans will be relieved to hear that Tzolis scored his. The loss meant that Düsseldorf stayed in the 2. Bundesliga, and, while the club did use their reported €3.5 million buy option, Tzolis did not stay in Germany long. That same summer, he moved to Belgium, signing for Club Brugge for a reported €6 million.
His time with Brugge has been, in a word, prolific. The Greek winger has 43 goals and 43 assists in all competitions since joining, and was particularly inspired this season. Unsurprisingly, he was named the Jupiler Pro League Player of the Season after scoring 17 goals, assisting 23 more, and helping the club win the league.
At Arsenal, he will be a natural fit. After selling Leandro Trossard, himself an ex-Belgian league star with Genk, the club currently have two left wingers. The first is Gabriel Martinelli, who, after a breakout 2022, has struggled for consistency. However, he still managed eleven goals and seven assists in all competitions last season. The other is Reiss Nelson, naturally a right winger, who is back after an uneventful loan with Brentford.
Tzolis adds a goalscoring threat from the wings, something that, for all their strengths, Arsenal lacked at times last season. Additionally, Mikel Arteta’s side, which was dominant in the air last season, should benefit from his crossing. With his vision and ability to hit on the counter, it’s little wonder that Arsenal wanted him, and he will add another dynamic attacking threat to a side that was already one of the best in Europe last season.
Tzolis becomes the fourth Greek player to represent the Gunners. The previous three were all defenders. Stathis Tavlaridis, who joined in 2001, and Konstantinos Mavropanos, who was signed in 2018, each made eight appearances. Sokratis Papastathopoulos, signed in 2018, played 69 games.
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Image via Club Brugge (Facebook).
