Christos Tzolis Joins Arsenal: A New Threat on the Left Wing

Christos Tzolis has not come to Arsenal to ease his way in. He has arrived at full speed.

The Greek winger, signed to replace Leandro Trossard after the Belgian’s move to Besiktas last week, joins the club on the back of a prolific season in Belgium and a summer that barely paused for breath. Arsenal see him primarily as a left winger, but his range across the front line gives them something more valuable than just a like-for-like replacement: flexibility with an edge.

Last season with Brugge, Tzolis built a reputation as a constant threat in the final third. Twenty-two goals. Twenty-nine assists. Those numbers travel. They are the sort of figures that turn scouting interest into concrete offers, and they are why Arsenal moved.

He has wasted no time settling in. While many of his new team‑mates are still shaking off the World Cup or only just back into full sessions, Tzolis is already deep into his work at the Sobha Reality Training Centre, where Arsenal’s pre-season officially began this week. He has been on the grass with his new colleagues from the outset, but crucially, he has a head start on almost all of them.

Greece did not qualify for the World Cup, and that absence has turned into Arsenal’s gain. Tzolis had just under four weeks off over the summer, yet even that break was not a full stop. After hearing of Arsenal’s interest, he spent part of that time training alone, sharpening his fitness, knowing an opportunity of this size demands more than simply turning up.

The work did not end there. Before finalising his move, he went through two weeks of pre-season with Brugge, returning to training in early July and even featuring in a friendly against Feyenoord. He played 45 minutes in that game and left with a highlight that will have pleased his new employers as much as his old ones: cutting in from the left and bending a superb finish into the top corner, a classic winger’s goal and a neat sign-off from Belgium.

While Arsenal held a mini-training camp in Marbella last week, the intensity of that trip did not match the level Tzolis had already hit with Brugge earlier in the month. The result is clear. At this stage of pre-season, he may be sharper and fitter than most of the current squad.

That advantage could tell very quickly. Arsenal face Girona in Spain next weekend in their first match of the summer, and Tzolis is expected to travel with the group. With minutes already in his legs and rhythm still fresh from July, he is firmly in line to make his first appearance for the club in that game.

A new left winger, a vacancy created by Trossard’s departure, and a player already close to match speed. Arsenal wanted a ready-made threat. They might have found one who is ready ahead of schedule.