Thierry Henry speaks out on what ‘struggling’ Arsenal star must improve

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry wants to see more from Christos Tzolis (Picture: Getty Images for USSF)

Thierry Henry likes what Christos Tzolis has brought to Arsenal, but says the summer signing is struggling away from the Emirates.

The 24-year-old has taken an interesting route to the Emirates, from PAOK in his homeland, Greece, via Norwich City and Club Brugge.

The winger joined the Premier League champions from the Belgian side over the summer for £34 million in a significant move, but not the eye-catching one some fans were hoping for.

Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal to solve their issue on the left wing, so Tzolis was a little underwhelming compared to that possibility.

The Greece international has made a solid start, though, with some good performances and clearly an excellent attitude.

However, Henry feels his displays in away matches are clearly not as good as at home, which is obviously an issue as Arsenal bid to win every match they play.

The Frenchman especially thought Tzolis struggled in the win at Aston Villa, when he was substituted at half-time for Eberechi Eze.

Christos Tzolis has had a solid if unspectacular start at Arsenal (Picture: Getty Images)

The Gunners legend accepts that this is a normal problem that will naturally improve, but it does need fixing as Arsenal challenge again for the Premier League and Champions League.

‘I’ve been following him for a long time since he was playing for Club Brugge,’ Henry told Betway. ‘He’s a very neat team player, he works hard, he’s not shy to be on the ball, he has an eye for a pass, and when he cuts back inside he can can give you a couple of assists, as we’ve seen already. He hit the ground running straight away.

‘It does help when you arrive and you’re maybe the only attacking player arriving in a team that’s already working, compared with if there are four or five new players and a new manager.

‘You can see that he’s still struggling away from home. He has to understand what’s happening when you play the away in the Premier League, especially as we saw in that [Aston] Villa game. But that’s normal. Overall, I think he has done well.’

Tzolis was hooked at half-time against Aston Villa (Picture: Paul Currie/Shutterstock)

Tzolis is yet to score his first goal for Arsenal and has provided just one Premier League assist so far.

He certainly has displayed an eye for goal in the past, scoring 43 goals in 108 appearances for Club Brugge across all competitions.

Tzolis is not going to get a chance to score his first Gunners goal straight after the international break after picking up a hamstring problem while on Greece duty.

It is not thought to be a serious injury, but two-three weeks on the sidelines is expected.

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