Christos Tzolis: Arsenal's New Left Wing Solution
Amid calls for a marquee signing, Arsenal may already have their answer on the left wing.
From Norwich footnote to Arsenal focal point
Almost five years ago, Christos Tzolis walked out at the Emirates as a teenager making his Premier League debut for Norwich. He started wide on the left. He did not muster a single shot. Arsenal, rooted to the bottom of the table after three straight defeats without scoring, clung to a 1-0 win that probably saved Mikel Arteta’s job.
It felt like a forgettable afternoon for Tzolis. For Arsenal, it became a sliding-doors moment.
Arteta stayed, rebuilt and eventually delivered a title. Tzolis drifted away from the English spotlight, failed to score in 14 League games for Norwich, and looked a long way from the level he faced that day in north London.
Last season, with Club Brugge, he ran into Arsenal again in Europe and saw the transformation up close.
"I can say it was the most difficult team to attack against that I’ve played so far," he admitted this summer. "We played against other big teams, but against Arsenal, we had the most difficulties to make clear chances."
Now he no longer has to crack that defensive wall. He trains inside it.
A £34m bet on end product
Arsenal paid £34million to bring the 24-year-old to the Emirates. The reasons jump off the page. Tzolis produced 22 goals and 29 assists in all competitions for Club Brugge last season, outrageous numbers for any wide forward.
There is a caveat. Those returns came in Belgium, ranked as the seventh-strongest league in the world by Opta. Arsenal know the step up is real.
They also know what they’ve lacked.
Even in a title-winning campaign, Arteta’s side did not carry enough ruthless, reliable threat across the forward line. Gabriel Martinelli managed just one Premier League goal. Only Viktor Gyokeres reached more than seven in the League. Martin Odegaard topped the assist charts with six.
Arsenal’s structure and patterns are endlessly dissected. The blunt truth is Arteta needs more cold, hard output from his attackers.
Tzolis brings that in spades. He has either scored or assisted in each of his last 15 competitive club appearances, stacking up 25 goal involvements in that run. He does not deal in half-measures around the box.
Inside the club, his versatility has been another major pull. He can operate across the front line, is genuinely two-footed and, in that sense, sits in the Leandro Trossard mould. Staff also liked his personality: confident without being brash, coachable, and technically sharp enough to lift the level of those around him.
Crucially, he is almost always available. Across two seasons in Belgium he missed just five matches, three through illness.
A flying start in red and white
The numbers in Belgium could have been dismissed as inflated. His first weeks in an Arsenal shirt have made that harder.
Because he had already done two weeks of pre-season and a friendly with Club Brugge, Tzolis arrived in London fit and ready. It showed. He set up goals against Borussia Dortmund and Real Betis, then curled into the far corner against Girona to open his account.
The Community Shield raised the stakes. Bigger occasion, stronger opposition. Tzolis went up a gear.
His deft header created Kai Havertz’s second goal. Later, he drifted in from the left, carried the ball with those small, teasing touches, and picked out Odegaard in the box for another assist. Wearing the No17 shirt, cutting inside to deliver the decisive action, he inevitably drew comparisons.
There were flashes of Alexis Sanchez in that move.
Arteta did not hide his admiration afterwards.
"He's fitting, he's a really intelligent boy and he has a massive quality which is when he's in the last 20-30 metres," the Arsenal manager said. "He's so composed to pick people out around the box or to finish actions. I'm really impressed with him."
Tzolis himself has not run from the Sanchez echo.
“Actually, I knew that he wore the number 17," he said when he signed. "I watched a lot of football and he was a top player for Arsenal, as a left winger always.
“He’s one of the players I looked up to when I was younger. And also, I see some similarities with him. But it’s not the reason I took the number 17.
“It’s nice (though). Alexis Sanchez had number 17 - so I hope I will have the same success.”
Martinelli warning, left flank reborn
Arsenal’s stance on Gabriel Martinelli underlines how strongly they believe in their new arrival. The Brazilian was left out of the squad entirely for the Community Shield and the club are open to selling him. That is not a subtle message. Right now, Tzolis is being backed as the first-choice left winger.
That side of the pitch has been a puzzle for years. Arsenal have leaned heavily on Bukayo Saka and Odegaard on the right, while the left has lacked the same consistent menace and control.
The picture is changing. With Riccardo Calafiori stepping high from left-back and Tzolis immediately finding rhythm in front of him, Arteta may finally be close to the balance he wants across the front five.
Arsenal still want to strengthen in attack. They are not pretending this is a finished product. Eberechi Eze, for instance, offers the option of operating more from the left if he arrives.
If no buyer emerges before the window shuts, Martinelli remains a weapon and a direct challenger to Tzolis. A more progressive passer in midfield, such as his Brazil team-mate Bruno Guimaraes, would also alter the dynamics for whoever starts on that flank.
But the hierarchy of the moment is clear. The shirt is Tzolis’s to lose.
Marquee signing or ready-made solution?
The plan when he joined was simple: Tzolis plus one. A big-name forward on top. That ambition has not vanished. A marquee attacker could still arrive in this window or the next, and the Greek international might then find his minutes squeezed.
For now, though, the clamour for that blockbuster deal is colliding with a more immediate reality. Arsenal already have a wide forward who scores, creates, stays fit and looks entirely unfazed by the step up.
Most of Arteta’s forwards must improve on last season if Arsenal are to keep their crown.
For Christos Tzolis, the task is different. He just has to keep doing exactly what he’s been doing — and force the club to ask whether the superstar they’re chasing is already in the building.
