IT'S TZOL ABOUT YOU: How Arsenal's new £34m signing Tzolis went from Norwich flop to Champions League star

It says everything about the evolution of Christos Tzolis that Arsenal's newest signing accrued more goal contributions last year than he made league appearances across an ill-fated spell at Norwich City.

The reason Tzolis will play for the newly minted Premier League champions is because, at 24, he is now every inch the clinical, cold-blooded attacker that Europe's elite believed he would become back when he was a teenager. Barcelona were among his illustrious courters back then as heavyweights flocked to observe a prodigious talent. But it was Norwich, rather than Barcelona, who clinched the youngster's sought-after signature.

The Tzolis hype train was already in full flow when the formalities of his £8.8million transfer from PAOK was confirmed back in the summer of 2021. At 21, Tzolis was already a full Greece international; for a Norwich side who were back in the big-time after romping to the Championship title under Daniel Farke, the winger's capture had all the hallmarks of a transfer coup.

And yet, things deteriorated rapidly. After scoring twice in a 6-0 win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup on his debut, Tzolis soon fell out of favour. By early November, Tzolis had seen the manager who signed him sacked by the club, just hours after recording Norwich's first league win of the season.

Dean Smith's appointment as Farke's successor proved to be the catalyst for the change of shape which effectively killed Tzolis' Norwich career.

“It was the hardest year of my career,” Arsenal's newest attacker conceded to Het Nieuwsblad back in 2024. “The first time I didn’t play with the first team, but with the second [reserves], I was very disappointed. That was the lowest point of my career.

“My agent and my family had to convince me not to give up. And life off the pitch wasn’t easy back then.”

In total, Tzolis made just 27 appearances for Norwich before leaving the club permanently in the summer of 2024. The first of two loan spells designed to resurrect his career, with FC Twente, fell flat due to a knee injury. It was in the second tier of German football with Fortuna Dusseldorf that the youngster finally rediscovered his killer instinct, plundering more than 20 goals.

From there, he never looked back. Unsurprisingly, Dusseldorf triggered their option to sign him permanently for just £3m. But it was Tzolis' next move which put the teen prodigy back on the path to superstardom.

Club Brugge swooped in to offer Dusseldorf the chance to effectively double their money instantly. They accepted and, in Belgium, Tzolis has flourished, accumulating more than 20 goals in successive seasons. Not only did he score 22 times last term, he registered a staggering 29 assists to break out as one of the biggest stars in the Belgian Pro League.

Tzolis returns to these shores not only hardened by the challenges of his stint in Norfolk, but brimming with confidence. Deadly with his right-foot, he has thrived in a left-sided attacking role and is viewed as the successor to the revered Leandro Trossard, who completed a move to Besiktas last week.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Norwich's sporting director at the time Tzolis was signed, Stewart Webber, cites the physicality of the Premier League as one of the reasons behind the young attacker's failure to live up to expectations. “He was very young, coming into the hardest league in the world where the physicality is off the charts,” said Webber.

“It didn’t work out because we [Norwich] were a struggling team in an unforgiving division. Attacking players don’t get 100 touches of the ball when they are playing for Norwich. If he’d been at an Arsenal he would have probably been successful straight away.”

Tzolis returns to the Premier League a different beast. Naturally, he has grown physically and looks more robust than the twinkle-eyed teenager who was swatted aside both figuratively and literally at Norwich. The numbers he has put up consistently elsewhere in Europe, albeit at a level which is not elite, are eye-catching. His previous experience, although chastening, should give him some form of advantage when it comes to adapting to the rigours of Premier League life this time around.

“I’m a direct player, I go for goals or assists,” Tzolis told Arsenal’s website. “That’s my point of view as an attacker, as a winger. I’m always hungry to score or to give the final pass to my teammates. And I can say I work hard for the team, also in the defensive part.”

Arsenal went into the summer with designs on levelling up their attack, particularly on the left side. A deal for Morgan Rogers is now off the table, and Tzolis will not be the only acquisition in that area. Whereas at Tzolis organically became the main man at Brugge, his role at Arsenal will be significantly different.

There is, of course, the risk that Tzolis' exceptional record in Belgium does not translate to the Premier League. Even with the additional experience and nous under his belt.

In a transfer market where the Premier League's heavyweights have focused on domestic signings for inflated transfer fees this summer, the signing of Tzolis is somewhat of an outlier.

But considering the transfer fee, the prospective upsides to the deal and the fact Arsenal are still after a ceiling-raiser signing for the left wing berth, you can see why signing Tzolis is a risk they feel is worth taking.