‘It’s my time’: Christos Tzolis fighting fit for Arsenal on return to England

The £34m signing from Club Brugge says he is a more complete player now after an indifferent time at Norwich

For any Arsenal fan eager to know what Christos Tzolis might bring to the Premier League champions, the winger’s swiftly earned nickname at his new club might prove instructive. In the 2006 action film 300, the leading figure of King Leonidas guides a meagre bunch of Spartans against an overwhelmingly large invading army. Although doomed by the vast numerical disadvantage, Leonidas’s courage, determination and strength inspires his troops far beyond their means. It is his name that Arsenal’s fitness coaches have given their new Greek.

Within a week of his £34m move from Club Brugge, Tzolis had made himself conspicuous at Arsenal’s training ground by acing a host of pre-season tests, topping the charts in one particular fitness challenge that involves players running more than a kilometre over varying intervals. Modesty forbids him from revealing the remainder of his physical results but, with a smile, he concedes they were “good”.

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