Everything to Know About Christos Tzolis, Arsenal’s Premier League Debutant

Christos Tzolis walked into the Emirates Stadium on Friday evening as one of the least-known summer signings in the Premier League, and walked out as the name everyone wanted to know more about. Arsenal beat Coventry City 3-0 in their opening-day title defence, and the 24-year-old Greek winger was at the centre of both first-half goals that put the game out of reach before halftime.

He won the ball back from Milan van Ewijk in a press that led to Riccardo Calafiori’s cross and Kai Havertz’s opener. Three minutes later, his teasing delivery into the area was fumbled by goalkeeper Carl Rushworth into Bukayo Saka’s path for 2-0. Martin Odegaard added a third. The crowd reacted to Tzolis with a buzz every time he received the ball, something the player noticed and mentioned in his post-match interview.

Mikel Arteta was asked about the performance afterwards. “I love that a player that has been with us just for a few weeks gets this kind of energy every time he’s on the ball,” the Arsenal manager said.

“What he transmits as a player is so direct, so incisive, constantly. I think he’s earned it.”

But where did the Greek winget come from, and why does he play the way he does?

Joining Arsenal

Tzolis was born in Thessaloniki on January 30, 2002. He grew up in PAOK’s academy, the same club where his bedroom door at home, as revealed in a PAOK documentary, was decorated with the club’s crest and surrounded by medals he had won through youth football. He broke into PAOK’s senior side in 2019 at 17, won the Greek Cup in 2020-21 as the competition’s top scorer, and was named PAOK’s Player of the Season before Norwich City paid a then-record €11 million to take him to England in 2021.

The Norwich spell did not go as planned. He played 14 Premier League games during their relegation season of 2021-22, without a single goal contribution in the league. A loan to FC Twente in the Eredivisie followed, then a loan to Fortuna Dusseldorf in the 2.Bundesliga for 2023-24, where everything changed.

He scored 22 goals in 30 league appearances and finished as the division’s top scorer. Norwich sold him permanently to Club Brugge in 2024 for €5.5 million.

At Brugge, across two seasons, he scored 33 goals in 74 Belgian Pro League matches. In 2025-26 alone, he produced 22 goals and 29 assists across all competitions, 50 goal contributions in 50 games, won the Belgian Pro League title, the Belgian Cup, the Belgian Super Cup, the Belgian Pro League Player of the Season award, and scored the league’s Goal of the Year.

Arsenal paid €34 million for him in July, bringing him back to England on a five-year deal to replace Leandro Trossard, who left this summer. He wears the number 17 shirt.

Per Arsenal.com, the 50 GA places him above Kylian Mbappe and Luis Diaz for the same metric that season, with only Harry Kane and Michael Olise ahead of him. It is a number that justifies the fee and explains why Arteta moved for him before the summer window became competitive around his name.

Tzolis’ Style of Play

Tzolis plays on the left wing and favours his right foot, which means he cuts inside to shoot or play passes rather than going around the outside to cross. Arteta’s system asks the left winger to come inside, occupy spaces between the lines, and either shoot or play combinations with the central midfielder or the striker. Tzolis does this instinctively. His directness, the quality Arteta specifically praised on Friday, comes from a player who decides quickly and does not hold the ball when the better option is to drive at someone.

He is also a presser. The first goal against Coventry started with him hunting down a defender and winning the ball back in a dangerous area. That willingness to do the unglamorous work is a reason Arteta trusts him with a starting role over Gabriel Martinelli, who did not feature in the Community Shield squad and has dropped behind him in the pecking order for now.

In the Community Shield against Manchester City, Tzolis set up two of Arsenal’s three goals in a 3-0 win. On Friday, he set up two more in the league opener. Four goal contributions in two competitive appearances at a new club, in a new country, after a four-year absence from the Premier League, is a start that very few signings manage.

He told Arsenal’s website afterwards that his previous experience at Norwich, difficult as it was, taught him how physical the Premier League is and helped him prepare for the return.

 “I improved a lot in the last four years to be ready and perform at the highest level,” he said.

The Greek international now has Saka on his right, Odegaard in behind, and Havertz in front of him. He is the piece Arsenal needed after Trossard’s exit, and based on what the Emirates saw on Friday evening, the Greek winger came ready.