Gary Neville urges Mikel Arteta to drop £34m Arsenal star for Chelsea clash

Manchester United legend Gary Neville (Picture: Sky Sports)

Gary Neville says he would be ‘stunned’ if Mikel Arteta did not drop summer signing Christos Tzolis for Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Chelsea.

Tzolis, who joined Arsenal in July in a £34m deal from Club Brugge, started the Gunners’ Premier League opener against Coventry City and Monday’s win at Aston Villa.

The Greece international impressed in pre-season and in Arsenal’s victories over Manchester City in the Community Shield and Coventry in the Premier League.

But Tzolis was less influential at Villa Park and was hooked at half-time, with Eberechi Eze impressing following his introduction from the bench.

Neville believes Eze has earned a start for Arsenal’s intriguing clash against in-form Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and says Tzolis could do with a watching brief from the dugout.

‘Look, it’s early for him,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast when asked about Tzolis’ start at Arsenal. ‘I didn’t get too carried away last week and said I wanted to see a bit more from him.

‘The Community Shield was obviously promising and then the game against Coventry as well. But I did think he was doing one thing well, he seems to just cut in, and right-backs will start to understand that.

Arsenal summer signing Christos Tzolis (Picture: Getty)

‘Matty Cash just set about him during the Aston Villa game, he was really aggressive and it was a little bit of a mauling. That will be good for Tzolis, just making him aware of what this is going to be like.

‘He’s not going to have it easy and he’s going to have opponents who want to get really close to him and make it difficult for him. It was a tough game for him.

‘But I thought Eze did really well when he came on. There’s a lot going on in that midfield for Eze given they’ve got Rice, Odegaard and now Guimaraes in there.

Eberechi Eze after Arsenal’s win at Aston Villa (Picture: Getty)

‘I think he may have to get really good at being a left-sided player for Arsenal. Sometimes you just need to look at which positions are opening up for you and basically take it.

‘I thought he did really well in the second half, I would be surprised if he doesn’t play next week against Chelsea.

‘It’s a big game and Mikel Arteta might just have to tell Tzolis, “I’m not going to put you into this one but watch this match.” Eze has a bit more strength about him and certainly more experience in the Premier League.

‘I would be stunned if Eze doesn’t play next week because he played really well in the second half at Aston Villa.’

Michael Owen also expects Arteta to take Tzolis out of the firing line for the visit of Chelsea, who have been tipped as dark horses for the Premier League title.

‘It will be interesting to see if Eze keeps his place against Chelsea at the weekend. I would suggest he might,’ said Owen, speaking on Premier League Productions.