Christos Tzolis interview: New Arsenal signing discusses Vinicius Jr rumours, winning the pre-season fitness tests and ‘Leonidas’ nickname | Football News

At Arsenal, there is an excitement about whether Vinicius Jr could sign this summer. But on Saturday, they were given a decent reminder that Christos Tzolis now plays for the club on the left wing.

On his Arsenal debut against Girona, Tzolis strode forward with confidence at his defender, cut inside defiantly and slotted an effort into the bottom corner, via a slight deflection.

Mikel Arteta says the Greek winger is a player that Arsenal fans will love watching and that goal in Catalonia was a positive early sign of that – so how does he feel about Arsenal still attempting to buy a star left winger to play ahead of him?

“Obviously I’m confident as a player, so I don’t think about the future and what the club will do in this position,” Tzolis responds when asked that question by Sky Sports from Arsenal’s pre-season training camp in Spain.

“I’m thinking how to improve and settle as fast as possible in the club because I have the opportunity to train directly with the team from the beginning of the season, to play the friendly games and then to go to official games.

“So it’s a chance to play directly from the beginning – and then it’s up to me to show the qualities and what I can bring in the team. I’m pretty confident that I will show it in the next games.”

Tzolis is speaking in his first interview with reporters since making the £34m move from Club Brugge. After getting 51 goal contributions in 52 games last season, he comes across as direct, honest, polite – but also really driven to succeed at Arsenal.

He was in his hometown of Thessaloniki when the call came from his agent that the Premier League champions were interested in him. While other clubs tried to hijack the deal, his mind was set after a few calls with Mikel Arteta.

But while the Arsenal manager is convinced that Tzolis can become a cult hero at Arsenal in the same way the departed Leandro Trossard was, he may need to convince a few fans that he can live up to that mark. So how is he planning to go about that?

“He doesn’t want [me] to do things differently than I did in Club Brugge,” said Tzolis about his conversations with Arteta.

“I think [I need] to be myself and to show on the pitch all the passion and desire to win. Because I really like to win games and to give everything.

“If I give 100 per cent for every game, every duel, who doesn’t like this? That’s the best thing for a football player and then always you have the support from the fans.”

How Tzolis dazzled Arsenal’s fitness coaches in pre-season

Direct. Creative. Work Rate. Those are three qualities Tzolis claims are his best attributes in this chat with reporters. But within the Arsenal camp, he is getting plaudits for another reason.

The 24-year-old finished first in one of Arsenal’s big pre-season testing challenges – a 1.4km run at full pace. It consists of running 20 metres then back, then the same with 40 metres, then 60 metres, and you do each distance five times in a row.

And these fitness performances has earned Tzolis the nickname ‘Leonidas’ from one of Arsenal’s fitness coaches – after the Gerard Butler character from the film 300.

“There are not all the players here,” he says, with a sense of humility. “There are still some players that have to do the tests, of course. But so far I’m first in the fitness test. It’s pretty hard.

“I had the advantage that I started pre-season also with Brugge so I was already training for two weeks and always I wanted to keep myself fit during summer so I was ready. I came here ready, my fitness level and I was happy that I could show it here as well.”

The Leonidas name is pretty apt for several reasons. One, because he is the direct replacement for another ‘Leo’ in Trossard, who departed for Besiktas this summer.

But in Ancient Greek history, Leonidas was the famous King of Sparta who led a small Greek force into battle against a massive Persian army.

‘Small Greek force’ is also a term that can describe Tzolis, especially after hearing Arsenal’s new signing goes into detail about how he has moulded his game while looking up to Barcelona and Spain legend David Villa.

“His body style is similar to mine,” says Tzolis. “We are not the tallest as strikers but in finishing terms, he was top level.

“I’m not saying I’m the level of David Villa but we have some similarities. He was not a striker, striker. He was an inside forward – a left pocket player who always went for goals.

“I see myself like this because I’m not always a typical wide winger. I go inside a lot and Villa, as a winger/inside forward, was top level.”

Another player Tzolis claims he has similarities too is former Arsenal winger Alexis Sanchez, who took on the No 17 shirt when he arrived at Arsenal in 2014. Tzolis has taken that same squad number upon joining the Gunners this year.

“Of course, I watched a lot of football and he was a top player for Arsenal as a left winger,” says Tzolis. “He’s one of the players I looked up to when I was younger. And also I see some similarities with him.

“But it’s not the reason I took the No 17. It was more that there were not so many options for the lower numbers, and there was also No 18 and 19 available. I had them in the past, so I didn’t want to use them again.

“So, I went for the No 17. It’s nice. Alexis Sanchez had No 17 – so I hope I will have the same success.”

Can Tzolis help Arsenal defend the title?

Tzolis is joining an Arsenal team who are still chasing history. No Arsenal team has defended the top-flight title since Herbert Chapman led the team to it in the 1930s.

But the Greek winger believes the mentality Arsenal are showing in pre-season is a sign they are ready to defend their crown.

“For the pre-warming up in the gym to go to training and the intensity and how serious everybody is,” he says when asked about the most surprising thing about joining Arsenal.

“From gym exercises to recovery sessions, everyone is demanding and trying to do as best as possible and that shows the high-level standards of this team.

“Even in pre-season, everyone is serious for the friendly games, for the training, for every exercise. Of course you expect it, but I didn’t know that before.

“When I see the training, and how hungry every player is for every training drill, that means everybody’s ready to compete at the highest level. And when you’re a player of Arsenal, you want compete for every title that’s possible.

“So, it’s not only about the Premier League, it’s about all the competitions we are playing for. And I see a clear mindset [from the players] and that everybody is on the same page to win titles here. I have seen that in training, and when you train like that in the game, it makes it even better.”

Tzolis knows what it’s like to join newly-crowned champions and then lose out on the title the following year. That was what happened when he moved to Club Brugge two seasons ago. So what has he learned?

“To defend a title I think you don’t have to think about it,” he says. “It’s more or less more difficult for the other teams because the pressure is there, not on the team who won the title.”