The 24-year-old Greece international forward was voted Player of the Year in Greece, after an incredible campaign in which he scored 22 goals, added 29 assists and helped Club Brugge regain the Belgian league title. It was the third season in a row in which he scored 20+ goals – he also did so in his debut year at Brugge, and during a highly successful loan spell at Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany in 2023/24. 

Now he wants to build on those incredible numbers in the Premier League. Speaking after signing for us, he said the move was still sinking in.

“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.”

Although he’s a versatile forward, Tzolis played mainly on the left wing in Belgium, and racked up incredible numbers, scoring in all but two of the 10 Jupiler League play-off matches at the end of the season, and adding 10 assists in those 10 games. He also scored three times and had five assists during their Champions League campaign. 

“I'm a direct player, I go for goals or assists,” he said. “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.”

Tzolis is making a return to the Premier League in joining us, having played for Norwich City back in the 2021/22 season. In fact his debut in the competition came at Emirates Stadium, as we recorded our first win of the season over the Canaries in September 2021. 

He was just 19 when he joined Norwich from PAOK, his first move away from Greece. He believes he is much better prepared for our league now, having played in five different countries already. 

“I can say more or less that I know the level of the Premier League,” he added. “I know it's the best league in the world. Of course it's different if you play for Norwich or Arsenal, I think you have the ball more as a player of Arsenal. So we attack more the other teams. It's very physical, the league and the quality is very high, so I'm prepared for that. Also in the Champions League it's quite high, so I believe every game is like a Champions League game here in Premier League.”

Tzolis played 13 times in the Champions League last term – including all 90 minutes in Brugge’s home game against us in the league phase. He also played (and assisted) in a 3-3 draw with Barcelona, played away to Bayern Munich and scored in the knock-out stages against Atletico Madrid. But it was Mikel Arteta’s side that left the biggest impression. 

“I love to watch football, I know everything about the Premier League, I know everything about Arsenal,” he said. “I watched so many games this year and especially we played against each other, like you said. It was 0-3 in our stadium. I can say it was the most difficult team to attack against that I’ve played so far. We played against other big teams, but against Arsenal, we had the most difficulties to make clear chances. We had some chances, but not very clear. They were very efficient also and scored three amazing goals against us, it was a fair result in the end.”

Now Tzolis is looking forward to being a part of our team rather than against us, and especially joining up with the rest of the attacking power we have in the squad.

“That's the best part when you play for such a big team,” he said. “Of course it’s a very competitive team to be a player of, but I think you just have to enjoy it. 

“You will need to work hard every training session and then you have to show it on the pitch. I'm really looking forward to it, to see the guys, to meet everybody in the squad and to play all together. It's a great feeling, I'm looking forward to my first game.”

He’s also looking forward to calling Emirates Stadium his home, after playing here five years ago. 

“It's actually incredible that I made my Premier League debut at the Emirates!” He reflected. “I was saying this the other day to my family, it was a great memory. I was in love with the stadium. I was always saying it was one of the best stadiums I've played in. In the end we lost 1-0, but I really liked my first game so I'll always remember that I played here at Emirates. I'm looking forward to playing again more. 

“I had a good summer,” he added. “I had 27 days of holidays, not full holidays - I worked also to be ready because, like I told you, I heard the rumours, so I said I need to be ready! I need to be in good shape and fit. So I worked hard also during the summer. Then I did preparation already with Brugge for two weeks, so I'm quite fit to start living here.

“My targets are to win titles, of course. I think for everybody the target is there, as many as possible. And to have as much as possible game time with the team, then the rest will come, I'm sure about that. So for me the most important is to settle well in the team, have a good feeling, play as much as possible and then we'll be very good, I believe. 

“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.”

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