With Leandro Trossard’s transfer to Beşiktaş finalized, Arsenal have wasted no time in their quest for securing a replacement for the outgoing winger, as David Ornstein announced on Thursday morning that the Gunners have reached an agreement to sign Greek winger Christos Tzolis from Belgian side Club Brugge for a fee in the neighborhood of €40 million. Negotiations have by all accounts been a relative breeze as the player only wanted the Arsenal.
The 24 year old left winger isn’t a marquee big name
signing, but it checks a lot of the usual Arteta boxes – he is young, two footed, can play multiple positions, and most importantly, he is a chance creation machine. Last season for Brugge, he registered 22 goals and 29 assists across 52 appearances and was voted the Belgian Pro League Player of the Season. Arsenal’s attack suffered at times during their title-winning campaign from a lack of open play creation. The signing of Tzolis looks primed to help address that issue.
His play style falls somewhere between Gabriel Martinelli and Trossard. He isn’t a Bobby Dazzler on the ball, but he is direct and drives towards the box, always looking to put the ball into dangerous areas.
There are always question marks around players coming from outside of Europe’s top leagues adapting to the Premier League, but Tzolis wilL come to north London with one season of PL experience after playing for Norwich in the 2021/22 season. It’s not much, but there’s at least some understanding of the demands and physicality of playing in Europe’s top league. He also knows what it takes to be a champion, winning the Belgian Pro League with Brugge this past season.
He is set to become Arsenal’s fourth player from Greece, going Konstantinos Mavropanos, Sokratis Papastathopoulis, and Stathis Tavlaridis.
The medical and contract have yet to be sorted, but this one looks to be done and dusted and hopefully is the beginning of another solid transfer window for the Gunners.
