Summer addition Christos Tzolis has revealed the conversations he had with Mikel Arteta before signing for Arsenal, and what the manager wants from him in north London.
Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis has made a positive impression in pre-season so far, notching a goal and an assist in his first two friendly appearances, and earning rave reviews over the results of his fitness tests.
Tzolis finished first in Arsenal’s 1.4km run, and the fitness staff have taken to calling him ‘Leonidas’ after the character in the film ‘300’.
But before completing his transfer from Club Brugge, Tzolis has revealed he held a couple of conversations with Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta.
“We had two talks during the summer,” Tzolis said. “One was to get to know me, and we had a really nice conversation.
“We spoke more about my story. He wanted to know about my personal life and my career path from just before I became a professional.
“[Then], we analysed my career in football so far. In football terms, he knows my game-style and wants me to do the same things at Arsenal. He doesn’t want (me) to do things differently than I did in Club Brugge.”
It’s hard to argue with that last part. In 2025/26, Tzolis scored 22 goals and assisted 28, for a mammoth 50 direct goal contributions. If he can do that in London too, he’d be an enormous success.
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.
Arteta himself gave his assessment of Tzolis to the media after Saturday’s 4-1 friendly win over Girona, saying: “I think you’re going to love the player.
“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.”
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