Forty million euros, and the eyebrows are already coming down
Forty million euros paid to Club Bruges for a 24-year-old winger last summer was always going to raise a few eyebrows in England. On Friday night against Coventry, Christos Tzolis started paying it back. An assist, a constant presence down the left, and a 3-0 win for Arsenal courtesy of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard.
It was not a one-off. The Greek winger had already laid on two assists in the Community Shield win over Manchester City. Three assists in two competitive outings in his new colours, with no goal yet, tells you plenty about the job Arteta has built for him. Chance creator first, finisher later.
Try it for $0.99.
Nine out of ten, and the headlines to match
The Sun named him man of the match and called the debut “phenomenal”. The Telegraph focused on his workload: “The Greek striker was the star of the first half, constantly making things happen, and one of his balls was nudged into Saka’s path after 23 minutes”. The Daily Mail looked past the raw numbers to his influence on the shape of the game. BBC handed him a 9 and already sees him as a major attacking outlet for the Gunners.
The dressing room agrees. “Incredible! He was brilliant. He’s been excellent throughout pre-season. He’s so sharp, he’s hard to defend against. He’s a very intelligent player, always lifting his head and finding the right pass,” said Martin Odegaard.
Arteta has found his extra weapon on the left
The Spanish coach was keen to stress the timing. “I love it when a player who’s only been with us for a few weeks is already able to do that with the ball. He’s someone who is going to give us an extra weapon on that left side,” he said.
One box remains unticked. Tzolis has not scored. At Bruges that was the most obvious part of his game, the thing he did without thinking. In London it can wait a while longer.
Discover the rest of the FOOTBALL news on our site and mathodds app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply