Why Christos Tzolis has major early advantage in Arsenal selection fight | OneFootball

Gunners team-mates playing catch-up after £34m summer transfer

Christos Tzolis is well-placed to hit the ground running in an Arsenal shirt.

The 24-year-old completed his £34million move to the Gunners this week from Club Brugge, signing a five-year contract.

He is set to be primarily used as a left winger but is versatile across the front line.

Tzolis caught the eye of Arsenal with his threat in the final third, having scored 22 goals and provided 29 assists in Belgium last season.

The Greek winger has been brought in to replace Leandro Trossard, who signed for Besiktas last week.

Tzolis has already started training alongside his new team-mates, with Arsenal officially starting their pre-season at the Sobha Reality Training Centre this week.

The Gunners play their first match next weekend against Girona in Spain and Tzolis has an advantage over the rest of the Arsenal squad ahead of that match.

New signing: Christos Tzolis completed a £34m transfer from Club Brugge to Arsenal this week

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With Greece not at the World Cup, Tzolis had just under four weeks off over the summer, though he revealed that he spent some of that time training by himself to ensure he was ready after hearing about Arsenal's interest.

Tzolis also then had two weeks of pre-season with Brugge before finalising his move to Arsenal.

He returned to training in early July and even played 45 minutes in a friendly against Feyenoord.

Tzolis signed off from the Belgian side in style, cutting in off the left wing and curling a brilliant finish into the top corner in that match.

That means there is every chance Tzolis is sharper and fitter than his new team-mates at Arsenal at this stage of pre-season.

Many of the squad are still on holiday after the World Cup, while the rest only returned to full training this week.

There was a mini-training camp in Marbella last week, but that was not at the intensity of Tzolis' preparations at Brugge earlier this month.

Tzolis is set to travel with the Arsenal squad to Spain next week and is in line to make his first appearance for the club against Girona.