For Arsenal, their pre-season preparations has been less than ideal so far.
The Gunners have only won one of their three games, suffering defeats at the hands of Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund while they have also been without their Spanish and English contingent until they returned to training on Monday this week.
Still, there has been one big positive, and that’s the performances of new signing Christos Tzolis.
How Tzolis has performed in pre-season for Arsenal
When the news broke that Leandro Trossard would be heading for Besiktas, it saddened Arsenal supporters.
After his move to the Emirates Stadium, the Belgian was always highly impressive. He was so consistent for the Gunners over on the left-hand side.
Yet, at the age of 31, it was time for him to leave. It was time for Mikel Arteta and Co to welcome fresh blood to north London.
They have done so in the shape of Tzolis. In the words of Arteta, he’s a player cut from a similar cloth as the aforementioned Trossard. Speaking last week, the Spaniard said: “He’s a player who’s very direct. He’s got the goal between the eyes. I think really good at linking up. He has a lot of similarities with Leo [Trossard] in a lot of the things that he can do and the spaces he can occupy.”
Well, since signing, he’s certainly shown why Arsenal paid £34m to bring him back to English football after a failed spell with Norwich City.
Last term, Tzolis scored 22 goals and assisted 29. He’s an output machine and the Greek has proven that in pre-season. The summer signing has played in three games and already has three goal contributions to his name; two assists and one goal.
It started with a tidy strike against Girona, cutting inside and then sliding the ball into the far corner. His assist against Betis came from a corner, much to the delight of set-piece coach Nicolas Jover, and then his assist for Ethan Nwaneri against Dortmund was sublime.
In Trossard esque fashion, Tzolis shifted the ball onto his left foot and then supplied and inch-perfect cut-back into the box.
Despite his impressive performances, there is a sence that Arsenal need more on the left-hand side. But, how do they get it?
How Arsenal can upgrade on Tzolis this summer
After winning the Premier League, many expected this summer to be easy for Andrea Berta and Arteta. It has been anything but.
They failed to sign their top target in Morgan Rogers. A £117m fee saw him move to Chelsea. It was never a price the Gunners were happy to pay.
Likewise their efforts to sign the premier winger in European football, Vinicius Junior, proved to be fruitless. He ended up signing a new contract with Real Madrid.
So, who are the alternatives? They have taken a look at Everton’s Iliman Ndiaye while Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz is also back on the agenda. Reports earlier this summer revealed that Arsenal had established contact with the Italian side, only for the winger to pen fresh terms in Turin.
Well, a few months on, the Gunners are looking at a deal again. According to Tutto Juve, the north Londoners are making a fresh push to sign him despite being told at the beginning of the window that he was not for sale.
Valued at €100m (£85m), it’s a cheaper deal than Rogers and Vini Junior so it is certainly a move worth exploring. Tzolis may have produced plenty of goals and assists in the Belgian top-flight last season but he has not been performing at the highest level quite like Yildiz has.
The 21-year-old is one of the best young wingers in the game right now. He scored 11 and assisted ten last term, perhaps begging the question whether he would be a genuine upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli.
Yet, with his impressive skillset, he would be a mighty fine addition. In the words of Italian football expert Danny Corcoran, the Turkiye international boasts a “[Kylian] Mbappe-like ability” to dart past opponents and bamboozle them with his trickery. Compared to Tzolis too, the numbers bode well.
|
Yildiz vs Tzolis (league stats 25/26) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (* = per 90 mins) |
Yildiz |
Tzolis |
|
Goals |
10 |
17 |
|
Assists |
6 |
23 |
|
Goals per game |
0.3 |
0.5 |
|
Shots on target * |
1.1 |
1.2 |
|
Big chances missed |
3 |
16 |
|
Big chances created |
15 |
25 |
|
Successful dribbles * |
2.2 |
1.1 |
|
Ground duels won * |
4.4 |
3.5 |
|
Possession lost * |
14.1 |
18.1 |
|
Fouled * |
1.6 |
1.6 |
|
Progressive carries * |
5.8 |
4.9 |
On overall output, Tzolis has Yildiz beat but if you added the latter into the Belgian Pro League, it is likely he would have registered similar numbers with regards to goal and assists.
After all, when you compare other areas of the Turk’s game to the new Arsenal signing, he stacks up impressively, completing more dribbles per 90 minutes and winning more duels. We all know how much Arteta loves a duel winner.
Compared to some of the finest in Europe, Yildiz also compares favourably. Compared to all players in Europe’s top five leagues in 2025/26, only Bruno Fernandes (98) and Romano Schmid (77) created more open-play chances than Yildiz (67). Furthermore, only Vinícius (43) recorded more chance-creating carries than the 37 Yildiz managed.
Thus, after missing out on that very Brazilian, the Juventus star could well be the next best thing. At the age of 21, he is ready and waiting to explode. It will surely not be too long before he is recognised as one of the finest talents on the continent.