{"id":801711,"date":"2026-08-03T20:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801711\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T20:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T20:44:13","slug":"its-my-time-christos-tzolis-fighting-fit-for-arsenal-on-return-to-england-arsenal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/801711\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s my time\u2019: Christos Tzolis fighting fit for Arsenal on return to England | Arsenal"},"content":{"rendered":"

For any Arsenal<\/a> fan eager to know what Christos Tzolis might bring to the Premier League champions, the winger\u2019s swiftly earned nickname at his new club might prove instructive. In the 2006 action film 300, the leading figure of King Leonidas guides a meagre bunch of Spartans against an overwhelmingly large invading army. Although doomed by the vast numerical disadvantage, Leonidas\u2019s courage, determination and strength inspires his troops far beyond their means. It is his name that Arsenal\u2019s fitness coaches have given their new Greek.<\/p>\n

Within a week of his \u00a334m move from Club Brugge<\/a>, Tzolis had made himself conspicuous at Arsenal\u2019s training ground by acing a host of pre-season tests, topping the charts in one particular fitness challenge that involves players running more than a kilometre over varying intervals. Modesty forbids him from revealing the remainder of his physical results but, with a smile, he concedes they were \u201cgood\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tzolis has been here before, albeit in vastly different circumstances. The last time he played Premier League football he was a teenager, starting three times for a Norwich side that finished bottom in 2021-22. The following campaign he started only three Championship games after an unsuccessful loan spell at the Dutch club Twente. When he headed on loan again, to Fortuna D\u00fcsseldorf, his time in East Anglia was over. But it was in Germany\u2019s second tier that his trajectory shifted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn football it\u2019s not always going up. You can have some setbacks and difficulties,\u201d says Tzolis. \u201cI learned a lot of things from this period at Norwich. That\u2019s why I wanted to go to D\u00fcsseldorf to get the confidence back, because I knew I have the skills and qualities to score goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though it was not the highest level, like playing in the Premier League, it\u2019s good to play every game and have the feeling that you can score and create, and play good games. Then you go to the next level, which is Club Brugge, and I had two amazing years there because I made the decision to go to D\u00fcsseldorf and have the confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel now more ready to be in the Premier League. For me, I did the right decision after Norwich. I developed myself, I improved a lot. I\u2019m not the same player I was in Norwich, 100%. I feel it in my body and also in my mindset. Now it\u2019s my time to show that I\u2019m ready and capable of playing in the Premier League.\u201d It is a thoughtful explanation from a thoughtful man; someone who says he is eager to absorb the wealth of cultures within a football dressing room.<\/p>\n

Tzolis\u2019 bare numbers from Belgium certainly support his assertion of improvement. In two seasons at Club Brugge, he scored 33 goals. His spectacular 2025-26 campaign caught Arsenal\u2019s eye, with 17 goals and 23 assists \u2013 16 more goal involvements than any other player in the league \u2013 to help his side regain the title.<\/p>\n

Christos Tzolis scored his first Arsenal goal in the friendly win against Girona on Saturday. Photograph: Agencia LOF\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Life at Belgium\u2019s dominant force was far removed from the difficult task that had presented itself at Norwich, where Tzolis made his Premier League debut at Arsenal\u2019s Emirates Stadium he will now call home. \u201cThe team was not ready for the Premier League and that makes it also difficult for me to adapt and to play how I could play,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m a more offensive player, and a player that plays for a team that has the ball and creates a lot of chances. With Norwich we had to defend more low and maybe to have some transition moments, but that was not working. Obviously the game time was not enough as a young player to develop and that was the bad thing of the Norwich situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tzolis was enjoying this summer in his home city of Thessaloniki when first informed of Arsenal\u2019s desire to sign him as a replacement for Leandro Trossard <\/a>on the left flank. He had two conversations with Mikel Arteta, who informed Tzolis that he should do nothing different to that which lit up the Belgian Pro League.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s always difficult to say no to Arsenal,\u201d says the Greece international. \u201cThere were some teams that talked and asked, but not concrete. Arsenal was the most concrete team and that made it easier for me to say: \u2018I want just to go there, I don\u2019t want to hear anything else.\u2019 It was an easy choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tzolis models his game on the Spanish great David Villa \u2013 \u201ca left-pocket player who always went for goals\u201d \u2013 and his first pre-season goal, in a 4-1 win against Girona on Saturday, arrived in precisely that fashion; cutting inside and curling the ball inside the far post.<\/p>\n

Tzolis prides himself on his \u201cpassion and desire to win\u201d, adding that he intends to \u201cgive 100% for every game, every duel\u201d to help Arsenal\u2019s title defence. Leonidas would demand nothing less.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For any Arsenal fan eager to know what Christos Tzolis might bring to the Premier League champions, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":801712,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":["post-801711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}