Christos Tzolis was not a signing Arsenal fans had in mind at the start of the summer.
Replacing Leandro Trossard was always going to be a difficult brief to fill. The Belgian, who has joined Besiktas, contributed pivotal goals and assists in the biggest moments of Arsenal’s Premier League title-winning campaign.
When Tzolis was touted as the man for the job, the reaction was rather tame, possibly confused, even underwhelmed.
A Belgian Pro League winger, largely unknown to English fans, arriving for £34million. Fine, but hardly setting pulses racing.
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But according to sources close to the club, as per Ben Jacobs, fans might want to temper their scepticism.
Christos Tzolis could surprise Arsenal fans like Cristhian Mosquera did
The expectation inside Arsenal is that Tzolis will feature a lot more often than fans currently anticipate, and that, like Cristhian Mosquera last summer, he could surprise people with how quickly he makes an impact.
“Arsenal sources tell me fans might be a bit surprised by Christos Tzolis,” Jacobs said, speaking on Latte Firm.
“Like when Cristhian Mosquera signed, he can be thrown straight in and have an immediate impact. My expectation is that he’ll play more than fans realise.”
Mosquera joined from Valencia last summer as a relative unknown, and was thrown straight into the deep end in his debut at Anfield.
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The 22-year-old replaced William Saliba who was forced off after just five minutes and didn’t look out of place at all. He won fans over immediately and has since become a trusted option at both centre-back and right-back.
Arsenal should have no problem making a healthy profit on the £13million they paid for him.
Christos Tzolis has an opportunity to make the left wing his own
Tzolis was largely expected to arrive as a squad player, providing depth behind a marquee left-wing signing.
That signing was supposed to be Morgan Rogers, until Chelsea swooped in for £117million and took him instead.
Arsenal are still pursuing alternatives, with Nico Williams, Bradley Barcola and Yan Diomande all being looked at, but none of them are even close to being through the door and pre-season has already begun.
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So there could be a genuine opportunity there for Tzolis to make that position his own during pre-season.
Gabriel Martinelli remains at the club and will likely stay until a replacement is secured. He could even start the Premier League opener against Coventry on 21 August.
Eberechi Eze could be used on the left too. That’s where Mikel Arteta initially played him last season, until shifting him to a number 10, due to a combined of his lack of defensive discipline as well as Martin Odegaard’s fitness problems.
Tzolis’ first interview as an Arsenal player suggests that he understands exactly what is expected of him defensively, which is precisely why the manager will trust him earlier than fans might expect.
His goalscoring record against Belgium’s top sides is also very encouraging, particularly compared to what Viktor Gyokeres produced against Portugal’s best teams.
That is exactly the kind of player Arteta needs more of.
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