Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal fans are going to love new signing Christos Tzolis, with the player scoring his first pre-season goal for the club on Saturday.
Amid all the noise around Arsenal’s pursuit of a big-money left-wing signing, Christos Tzolis’ arrival from Club Brugge hasn’t generated nearly as much interest as it otherwise might have.
But the Greek winger has made a very solid start to pre-season with the Gunners, providing an assist in a behind-closed-doors friendly against MK Dons, before scoring in another friendly away to Girona on Saturday.
The 24-year-old looked very sharp, perhaps aided by the fact he’d already played a pre-season game for Brugge even before joining Arsenal. He’s a little ahead of his new teammates in his preparation, and he’s taking full advantage of that at the moment.
More than just having an advantage in his fitness right now, Mikel Arteta believes Tzolis will prove to be a player the Arsenal fans love, comparing him with Leandro Trossard.
“First of all, the way he has adapted to the club, the team and the connections he’s already generating with the boys, I think you’re going to love the player,” Arteta said. “He’s a player that has the goal between his eyes. He’s really good at linking up.
“He’s got a lot of similarities with Leo (Trossard) with the things he can do and the spaces he can occupy. Then the work rate he has, he’s a boy that comes with so much hunger and wants to prove this is a dream for him.”
There would probably be more excitement around Tzolis’ signing if he’d been signed from a different country. This is a player who scored 22 goals and assisted 28 last season, for a mammoth 50 direct goal contributions.
Tzolis was vital to Club Brugge winning the Belgian Pro League, notably scoring an excellent goal and providing an assist in their title-clinching game.
But Belgian football isn’t particularly highly rated by English supporters, and perhaps that’s a little unfair. The stats suggest it’s currently one of the strongest leagues outside of the big five, and it’s worth remembering that Trossard himself played in Belgium until the age of 24.
If Tzolis keeps up his form throughout pre-season, Arsenal fans may well start to fall in love.
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