Christos Tzolis: Arsenal's New Left Wing Solution

Amid calls for a marquee signing, Arsenal might already have their answer on the left wing. And it is a player who once helped push Mikel Arteta to the brink.

From Arsenal’s crisis to Arsenal’s solution

Almost five years ago, Christos Tzolis walked out at the Emirates as a teenager making his Premier League debut for Norwich. He started on the left, nervous, raw, and largely anonymous. Norwich lost 1-0. Arsenal, bottom of the table after three straight defeats without a goal, just about clung on. Arteta just about clung on.

Tzolis did not manage a single shot that day. Arteta’s future looked fragile. The club felt stuck in reverse.

Fast forward to this summer and the picture could hardly be more different. Arteta has turned Arsenal into champions and one of Europe’s most sophisticated sides out of possession. Tzolis has turned himself into the kind of ruthless, end-product winger Arsenal have been crying out for.

He found that out the hard way last season with Club Brugge.

"I can say it was the most difficult team to attack against that I’ve played so far," Tzolis admitted earlier this summer. "We played against other big teams, but against Arsenal, we had the most difficulties to make clear chances."

The problem for him then has become the opportunity now. That defensive wall is no longer a puzzle to solve on matchday. It is his daily reality at London Colney.

The numbers that forced Arsenal’s hand

Arsenal did not spend £34million on a hunch. They went for a 24-year-old who tore through Belgian defences last season: 22 goals and 29 assists in all competitions for Club Brugge. Those are video-game numbers.

Yes, they came in Belgium, a league Opta ranks as the seventh strongest in the world. The caveat is obvious. The output is still impossible to ignore.

Inside the club, they liked almost everything. His versatility across the front line. His ability to use both feet, reminiscent of Leandro Trossard. His temperament. The belief that he would raise the technical ceiling of the attack.

Above all, they loved his relentlessness in the final third.

Tzolis has now scored or assisted in each of his last 15 competitive club appearances, racking up 25 goal involvements in that stretch. That kind of reliability has been missing at Arsenal, even in a title-winning campaign.

Gabriel Martinelli finished last season with just one Premier League goal. Only Viktor Gyokeres managed more than seven league goals. Martin Odegaard topped the assist charts with six. The system functioned. The individuals did not fire often enough.

Arsenal’s forwards have tended to run hot and cold. A flurry of goals here, a barren month there. Injuries have played their part, with key attackers regularly sidelined at crucial points.

Tzolis arrives with a very different profile. Across two years in Belgium, he missed only five matches. Three were down to illness. He was there almost every week, and almost every week he delivered.

Hitting the ground sprinting

The early signs in red and white are striking.

Helped by a two-week pre-season and a friendly with Club Brugge before his move was completed, Tzolis reported to Arsenal already up to speed. He has looked it.

He set up goals against Borussia Dortmund and Real Betis. He curled in his first for the club against Girona, a classic winger’s finish into the far corner.

Then came the Community Shield. A step up in opposition. A step up in pressure. Tzolis stepped with it.

His clever, cushioned header created Kai Havertz’s second goal. Later, he found Odegaard in the box with another measured assist. Same pattern, same poise: receive wide, carry with tight touches, shift inside, pick the killer option.

Wearing the No17 shirt, gliding in off the left, there were inevitable flashbacks to Alexis Sanchez in full flow. The jersey, the angles, the aggression with the ball – it all felt familiar.

Arteta did not hide his admiration.

"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 manager said afterwards. "He's so composed to pick people out around the box or to finish actions. I'm really impressed with him."

Tzolis himself is well aware of the Sanchez connection.

“Actually, I knew that he wore the number 17. I watched a lot of football and he was a top player for Arsenal, as a left winger always," he said after signing. “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.”

A vote of confidence on the left

Actions tell you more than words. Arsenal’s willingness to listen to offers for Martinelli is a loud endorsement of Tzolis.

Martinelli did not even make the squad for the Community Shield. That omission, in a showpiece fixture, underlined the shift. Right now, the left wing belongs to the new man.

That side of the pitch has nagged away at Arsenal for years. Most of the creative burden has fallen on Bukayo Saka and Odegaard on the right, with the left often feeling like a supporting act.

Now there is the hint of a new structure. Riccardo Calafiori stepping aggressively from left-back. Tzolis ahead of him, direct and decisive. The balance looks different. It looks healthier.

Arsenal still want to strengthen in attack. They are open about that. A marquee addition remains part of the plan, either this window or the next. Eberechi Eze, for example, could operate from the left if he arrives.

If no sale materialises before the deadline, Martinelli will still offer competition and rotation. A more progressive passer in midfield, such as his Brazil team-mate Bruno Guimaraes, would likely help unlock him again.

But the hierarchy on that flank, as it stands, is clear. Tzolis has the shirt.

More of the same

This is not yet a team built around him. That was never the idea. He was signed with the expectation that another headline forward would follow.

That may still happen. If it does, his minutes might shrink. The role might change. The expectations will not.

Arsenal need almost all of their forwards to raise their output if they are to defend their title. They need more goals, more assists, more ruthlessness in tight games.

For Christos Tzolis, the brief is simpler.

He just has to keep doing exactly what he has been doing for the past 15 games.