Who is Christos Tzolis? Arsenal’s Incoming Greek Wing-Wizard and the Perfect Trossard Replacement

Arsenal’s priority this summer was always going to be the left wing. It was an area that was somewhat neglected this time last year. The Gunners strengthened every position. Yet, the north London side overlooked the left flank.

It didn’t exactly derail their title ambitions. Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions for the first time in over 20 years as Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli shared the left wing responsibilities.

Neither exactly disappointed. Conversely, the duo are hardly ones to strike fear into opposition hearts. Indeed, between them they were directly involved in 17 league goals last season, Trossard responsible for 12 of those.

And once the Belgian’s move to Turkish Super Lig side Besiktas was confirmed, the capital outfit were always going to act swiftly to improve their frontline.

Trossard out, Tzolis in

Arsenal are now on the cusp of signing Greek forward Christos Tzolis from Belgian side Club Brugge. Transfer guru David Ornstein suggests that Mikel Arteta’s side are parting with €40m to bring the 24-year-old to the Emirates Stadium.

The winger is hardly jumping in at the deep end in terms of making the transition to English football. Tzolis has Premier League experience owing to a forgettable spell with Norwich City in the 2021/22 season.

Admittedly Tzolis looked out of his depth for the Canaries and after a series of loan spells to FC Twente and Fortuna Dusseldorf, he moved permanently to Belgium in 2024. In that time he’s rebuilt his reputation as one of the more effective wingers on the continent.

In his debut campaign in Belgium, Tzolis scored 16 times and provided an additional nine assists. He registered more assists than any other player (13) in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League prior to the split last season.

He did so having created 79 goalscoring chances. No player created more prior to the league split. He’s not an explosive winger in the same mould as Martinelli. Tzolis won’t look to use his dribbling ability to get the better of a marker. Rather, he’ll look to maximise his vision to pry apart defences. No wonder he’s considered the ideal Trossard replacement.

Arsenal have their Trossard successor

The Belgian, after all, isn’t the quickest attacker in world football. He makes up for that, though, by having what it takes to create for his teammates. Trossard managed just 1.1 completed take ons per 90 in the Premier League last season. The 31-year-old ended up creating 1.6 chances per 90 in the 2025/26 Premier League campaign.

Similarly, Tzolis completed just 0.9 take ons per 90 in Belgium’s top tier last term. The Greek star created 3.3 chances per 90.

In addition, Tzolis’ attacking approach suits the way Arteta wants his widemen to operate. As the above touch map from the 2025/26 Champions league season highlights, he looks to cut inside from the left flank onto his right foot. 

56 of his 89 shots (62.9%) were with his right. Seven of his nine goals (77.8%) came off his right foot. With the leading striker willing to drop deep to drag markers out of position, the widemen have the space to wreak havoc in the final third.

Variety to the way the Gunners attack

However, one of the criticisms of Arsenal last season was that while they did look to exploit the flanks, there was a clear preference to favour the right. In fact, 42% of their attacks came down the right side. Only West Ham (44%) did so more than the Gunners.

Conversely, just 32% of their attacks came down the left, the joint-lowest such proportion in the division.

This reliance on attacking down the right didn’t come back to haunt Arsenal. It might do next season, meaning that they needed to bolster their left flank to add some variety to their attack.

Tzolis may not have been high on the supporters' wishlists when left wing options were drawn up. And yet the incoming Arsenal man should prove a hit with fans. Trossard was a signing that attracted little fanfare when the deal to bring the attacker from Brighton to the capital was done.

Three-and-a-half years later, he leaves as a club hero. Arsenal needed that player to provide that spark in the final third against deep-sitting defences. Tzolis brings that ability to create a moment of magic out nothing that will prove vital as Arteta looks to mastermind back-to-back title triumphs.