Christos Tzolis has revealed his admiration for former Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez and believes there are similarities between their games after taking the Chilean’s old No.17 shirt.
Tzolis completed a £34million move from Club Brugge earlier this summer and has already made an encouraging start to life under Mikel Arteta.
The Greece international scored during Arsenal’s 4-1 pre-season victory over Girona after previously registering an assist against MK Dons.
Speaking about his new shirt number and memories of Sanchez, Tzolis told The Sun that he watched the former Gunner regularly when he was younger.
“He’s one of the players I looked up to,” Tzolis said.
He added: “I see some similarities with him.”
Christos Tzolis: “I’m not saying I’m the level of David Villa, but we have some similarities. 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.”
“Villa as a… pic.twitter.com/gzKOUX038y
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 3, 2026
Sanchez wore No.17 during his first two seasons at Arsenal after joining from Barcelona in 2014.
He became one of the Premier League’s most devastating attackers, combining direct running with relentless intensity and an ability to score from the left.
Tzolis does not claim to have chosen No.17 purely because of Sanchez. However, he admitted he hopes to enjoy similar success in north London.
There are already obvious stylistic reasons for supporters to make the comparison.
Tzolis prefers attacking from the left, likes driving inside towards goal and possesses the work rate Arteta demands without the ball.
Arteta himself has compared Tzolis more closely with Leandro Trossard.
Speaking after the Girona victory, the Arsenal manager praised his new signing’s directness, goalscoring instinct and ability to occupy similar spaces to the Belgian he replaced.
Competition for attacking minutes should remain intense. ReadArsenal reported on Tuesday that 16-year-old Max Dowman is also expected to receive a significantly increased first-team role, giving Arteta another exciting option around his established forwards.
Tzolis has already demonstrated that he intends to compete immediately rather than spend his first season simply adapting.
Matching Sanchez’s impact would be an enormous ask.
His first objective will be proving he can make Arsenal’s No.17 shirt his own.
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