Arsenal have announced the signing of Greek international left winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge; the Premier League champions have confirmed on Arsenal.com.
Last season, Mikel Arteta had Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli and the versatile Noni Madueke as left-wing options.
Although the historic Premier League title win outweighed the discussions over the goal-scoring volume from a statistical perspective, it is important to note that the trio only accumulated a meagre 10 league goals between them.
As such, there is a clear need to add more goal-scoring output in that position, and the Gunners have already begun overhauling their left-wing options.
So far, Leandro Trossard has departed for Besiktas, and the club have been keen on signing Tzolis as a direct replacement for the Belgian international.
In recent days, Football Talk, citing David Ornstein, revealed that Arsenal have agreed a deal to sign Tzolis from Brugge. The attacker was given permission to travel to London to formalise his switch to the Gunners.
Following the completion of his medicals as well as media and contractual formalities, Arsenal have now officially confirmed on their website that Tzolis has signed a long-term contract with the club. Sky Sports report the fee paid is £34m – a record for the Belgian Pro League.
‘Proud’
Speaking after completing his move, the Greek international revealed how ‘amazing’ it was for him to join Arsenal, adding that he was ‘very proud’ to be among the Gunners’ squad for next season.
‘I need some time to realise, I think!’ he said. ‘It’s absolutely amazing to sign for such a big club, the champions of England. I’m very proud to be part of this team for the next season.
‘When my agent was saying maybe it was a possibility, I was already excited. Afterwards it was getting more serious, and now I’m here.’
‘I had a nice conversation [with Mikel Arteta]. It was around an hour. We talked about everything: about the club, about myself, about his plans, about me, of course, about the team. It was only positive things.’
He added, ‘I’m very proud to be part of this amazing team. I’m looking forward to meeting everybody on the pitch, at the stadium and to score my first goal at the Emirates.’
The 24-year-old was one of the most prolific forwards across Europe in the recently concluded season, netting 22 goals and providing 29 assists for Brugge in all competitions.
Only Bayern Munich’s pair of Harry Kane (68) and Michael Olise (53) recorded more goal contributions than Tzolis’ 51 in all major leagues across Europe.
His arrival will give Mikel Arteta a significantly greater goal-scoring threat from the left flank than Arsenal had last season, while providing a level of attacking output comparable to what Bukayo Saka offers on the right.
He was all smiles after completing his move as he posed in his new Arsenal kit. It has also been confirmed that Tzolis will wear the No. 17 shirt at his new club and has already began training with his new team mates.
Check out some snaps below from Arsenal.com:
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