Before David Ornstein confirmed it. Before Fabrizio Romano backed it up. Before the BBC ran it. There was Dimitris Manakos, Greek sports journalist, the man with direct pipelines into the world of Greek football and its relationship with English clubs. Manakos had Arsenal’s interest in Christos Tzolis pegged weeks before anyone else, and his latest update on the situation is the most detailed yet.
Dimitris Manakos’ latest update as on June 13, 2026:
“Christos Tzolis to Arsenal? It’s HAPPENING! At around £35m, Arsenal could be looking at an absolute steal. The talks are underway, Mikel Arteta WANTS him, and the admiration from the Arsenal boss is very real. A winger with pace, goals, creativity and huge upside. Don’t be surprised if things accelerate soon.”
🚨🇬🇷 Christos Tzolis to Arsenal? It’s HAPPENING! 👀🔥
At around £35m, Arsenal could be looking at an absolute steal. The talks are underway, Mikel Arteta WANTS him, and the admiration from the Arsenal boss is very real. 🔴⚪
A winger with pace, goals, creativity and huge… pic.twitter.com/QRZi5hgWBU
— Dimitris Manakos (@dimitrismanakos) June 13, 2026
What Manakos knew first
(The details that only someone with Greek football access could know)
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What makes Manakos the crucial source here is not just that he got there first, it is what he was able to report that the bigger outlets could not. His exclusive revealed that Arsenal scouts had attended multiple Club Brugge matches this season specifically to watch Tzolis, and that the reports coming back to Hale End were “consistently positive.”
He also reported the detail that Tzolis had himself faced Arsenal as an opponent and was impressed by what he saw, the kind of player-side intelligence that only comes from direct access to the Greek football ecosystem.
Manakos also framed the move accurately from the start: this is not Arsenal’s headline signing. It is a smart, opportunistic piece of business that Andrea Berta has identified as separate from the main budget. Ornstein’s confirmation that a Tzolis deal would not impact Arsenal’s pursuit of Rogers, Barcola or 16-year-old Jeremy Monga validated that framing entirely. The journalist who knew the player’s world saw the structure of the deal before the transfer reporters picked up the scent.
Why Tzolis Arsenal transfer for £35m is a steal
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Tzolis finished 2025/26 as the Belgian Pro League’s number one for assists by more than double the player in second place and third for goals. His 55 total goal contributions across all competitions in 62 appearances is a number that would cost Arsenal three or four times the asking price if replicated in a top-five European league. He ranked in the 97th percentile for non-penalty expected goals among all Belgian Pro League players.
Club Brugge want a Belgian record fee of around £35 million. For context, Charles De Ketelaere, a player who never replicated his Belgian form in a top league, cost AC Milan £32.5 million in 2022.
🚨 || If #Arsenal🏴 pay the €40m / £33m requested by #ClubBrugge🇧🇪 for Christos #Tzolis🇬🇷 there will be two records broken instantly.
Tzolis would become the most expensive sale in Brugge history (ahead of Charles #DeKetalere €37.5m to #Milan🇮🇹 22/23, Ardon #Jashari🇨🇭 €36m to… pic.twitter.com/I55dNkKNDU
— Dean James (@DeanJamesAFC) June 13, 2026
At the same fee, Arsenal would be getting a player four years younger, with two full elite seasons of consistent output, and a genuine hunger to prove himself in English football after his difficult spell at Norwich City as a teenager.
The Arteta connection
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Arteta has reportedly spoken directly to Tzolis. That is not routine because when you walk into a room with Mikel, you come out fully convienced about his ideas and principles. And apparently Tzolis is Arteta’s chosen replacement for Leandro Trossard on the left side of attack, with the Belgian attracting interest from at least two Premier League clubs this summer.
The Manakos framing of Arteta’s admiration being “very real” maps precisely onto this detail. He has not just approved the signing from a tactical spreadsheet.
Tzolis also publicly dismissed Crystal Palace’s interest, telling a Belgian newspaper that “the Crystal Palace train has passed for me.” He is not interested in a mid-table project. He wants a club that can win things. Arsenal, the Premier League champions, are the only club in this race that fit that description fully.
“Arteta WANTS him. The admiration is very real. Don’t be surprised if things accelerate soon.” – Dimitris Manakos, the journalist who called this first.
Author Opinion
Dimitris Manakos saw this coming before the big outlets did because he has the access that Greek football demands. When the journalist who first breaks a story comes back weeks later with a confident update, and Ornstein, Romano and the BBC have all caught up in the meantime, that is not a rumour. That is a transfer in motion. At £35 million for a 24-year-old who just put up 55 goal contributions, and with Arteta personally involved in convincing the player, Arsenal may be about to pull off another Andrea Berta masterstroke. The Mosquera template. Applied again.
Related Items:Christos Tzolis, Club Brugge
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