This article has been updated after The Athletic reported Arsenal have reached a €40m agreement with Club Brugge for Christos Tzolis

Christos Tzolis was one of European football’s best attackers last season — in terms of numbers.

The 24-year-old Club Brugge forward recorded 40 goal contributions — 17 goals, 23 assists — in 36 appearances in the Belgian Pro League. Only Harry Kane (41, including 36 goals) of Bayern Munich managed more than that among the players in Europe’s top five domestic leagues.

Arsenal have agreed a deal worth €40m with Brugge for Tzolis. Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard (who left this week for Besiktas), who largely played on Tzolis’ preferred left flank for the eventual Premier League winners in 2025-26, managed a combined 19 goals and 17 assists while making 53 and 50 appearances in all competitions.

Output aside, Tzolis has the key ‘macro’ attributes that have been crucial to Mikel Arteta’s side developing into England’s champions. But could he replicate them in the more demanding Premier League?

Tzolis has evolved since a two-season spell at Norwich City, during which he scored three goals in 30 matches (but none in 14 in the Premier League). Over the past three years — one with Fortuna Dusseldorf in Germany’s second tier, then two in Bruges — he has enjoyed the responsibility of being his team’s go-to man in attack.

At Fortuna, many of Tzolis’ 24 goals came from attacking crosses at the far post. That hinted at a player who bided his time and knew exactly when, and which areas, to attack.

By the end of his 37-match stint in Dusseldorf, his overall game had improved too. The sequence below against Kaiserslautern, a few months before his summer 2024 move to Belgium, was a precursor to the initiative and bustling energy he possesses.

Tzolis starts the move in his own half and crowns it after exchanging multiple passes and easing his way past a tackle in a matter of seconds.

The 34-time Greece international (nine goals) has played in a wider position for Brugge.

He still has the pace to accelerate beyond defenders but the bigger improvement has been in his tight-window passing. When that combines with his off-the-ball running, we get moments like the one below, against Gent in May.

Tzolis starts the move from left-back and again, within seconds, forces the goalkeeper into an excellent save.

The unpredictability Tzolis brings with his movement is complemented by his shooting.

He keeps both his backlift before striking and follow-through after at a low height, and still has the strength to generate driven shots that are hard for goalkeepers to judge.

His goal against Atalanta in the Champions League last September is an example. As seen below, Tzolis’ right boot is only inches off the ground before he hits the ball…

… and gets only a foot or so clear of the turf after he lets fly.

Many of Tzolis’ goals end with that satisfying sound pitchside microphones capture when the ball is thumped into the back of the net.

The technique is useful when he wants to fizz in low shots, too. In our next clip, against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League knockout phase in February, he strikes the ball across Jan Oblak to score an 89th-minute first-leg equaliser.

This finish is an example of his two-footedness, enabling him to play across the forward line, and the immaculate timing of his runs.

At Club Brugge, Tzolis has played with athletic left-backs who can overlap and underlap. Maxim De Cuyper, now at Brighton & Hove Albion, had that role in 2024-25, then Joaquin Seys followed suit last season.

This helped Tzolis hurt opposing full-backs in different ways.

Below against Gent, Seys shifts infield and frees up Tzolis to run on the overlap. He takes his man on, beats him on the outside, then cuts back inside and sets up Carlos Forbs.

In this next example, against the same opponents the previous season, De Cuyper stays wide and Tzolis runs in behind on the inside to assist Romeo Vermant.

Tzolis is a threat in transition and to retreating or disorganised defences. While he is at his best when linking up with his full-backs or left-sided midfielders, he can beat players on his own, as in the first of two examples above.

His set-piece delivery is strong too, and he can create chances with inswingers and outswingers. Club Brugge scored from the second phase of his corners in both those February matches against Atletico.

Rounding out Tzolis’ skill set is his defensive awareness.

Club Brugge’s setup without the ball often sees them pressing with two up top. Tzolis routinely joined the press late and hassled the player in possession from his blindside. The requirement has been to stay engaged rather than be particularly aggressive.

Against the higher quality teams domestically and in Europe, Tzolis has dropped into the back line alongside his left-back to help defend wide areas and track opposition runs.

If he gets caught out, Tzolis can rely on his speed to recover ground, as he does below against Mechelen.

That pace is useful in transition defending, too. Against Anderlecht in the example below, Tzolis is some distance behind the ball initially…

…but catches up to slide in and win the ball cleanly.

That pace and awareness, after time on the training ground, could be valuable in a front-footed setup too.

Pace, physicality, versatility and defensive awareness have been the foundations of Arsenal’s recent success under Arteta. Tzolis checks all those boxes.

The big question is how well his qualities will translate to the Premier League after making little impact in his first crack at English football, albeit that was with a relegation-bound Norwich side and mostly when he was still a teenager.

Much of what Tzolis has accomplished has come with space in front of him. Martinelli similarly thrived when he had areas of the pitch he could occupy and scored 15 Premier League goals in the 2022-23 season. He has struggled as spaces have become congested, and the football has become more stop-start.

Tzolis’ qualities, like those of Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres, suggest he will not be out of place back in the Premier League. But as with the Sweden striker, who struggled at times last season but ended with 21 goals across competitions, patience would be key with the Greek if Arsenal complete the deal.

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Good morning to everyone except anyone who ever said “sportsball,” and happy schedule-release day to those who celebrate. We got a sneak peek at opening night yesterday, and it’s honestly pretty great. Plus, the season starts in September, creating a bit more room to fit in the new 84-game schedule. Nice work by everyone involved.

Walking the Yzer-plank

We had a bit of a bomb dropped on us yesterday, in what’s normally the slow-news dead zone of mid-July: Steve Yzerman is out in Detroit.

Well, not “out,” at least not all the way. Instead, Yzerman has been kicked upstairs, where he’ll be an advisor to owner Chris Ilitch. That’s not quite the same as being sent to the unemployment line, but make no mistake — this is the Red Wings firing Yzerman as GM, in spirit if not in so many words.

Max Bultman goes deeper on what it all means, but in the immediate aftermath, three questions loom:

What now for the Red Wings?

It’s unusual for a team to make a GM change this late in the offseason, and it was notable that there was no immediate replacement named, which ends any thought that this was some kind of planned succession scenario. Instead, the Wings will start the hunt for a new GM — weeks and, in some cases, months after other teams making changes have already hired theirs.

In theory, this should be a reasonably attractive job, one in a strong market and with some good young pieces already in place. But the pressure will be high, as patience is running exceedingly thin in Detroit these days. If Steve Freaking Yzerman ran out of time, how much runway can a new GM expect to get?

What does this mean for Dylan Larkin?

Yzerman vs. Larkin had been shaping up to be the story of the summer, and now it’s over. Did … Larkin just win? Did the Wings’ current captain just beat their old one in a power struggle? And if so, does that mean there’s a way for him to come back after his trade demand, or that a new GM will be told to move him to one of his preferred destinations?

Is this it for Yzerman’s front office career?

In theory, it could be. Yzerman is 61 years old, and he might decide that it’s time to ride off into the sunset, cashing some (presumably large) paychecks for doing occasional consulting work while retaining most of his hero status in Detroit.

But I can’t help but think back a decade or so to when the Devils kicked GM Lou Lamoriello upstairs. Like Yzerman in Detroit, Lou felt like a lifer in New Jersey. But after being “promoted” out of the job he’d held for 28 years, he lasted just a few weeks in his new role before quitting to become GM in Toronto. Will Yzerman be looking for a similar opportunity at some point in the next year or two? We’ll find out.

Hey, speaking of being kicked to the curb …

World Cup lessons for the NHL

Have you been watching this World Cup thing? It’s a big international soccer tournament, and I’m pretty sure they based the idea off of the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Note to self: Verify that fact before hitting send.) The final is on Sunday, with Spain taking on Argentina, and The Athletic has been all over the coverage.

I’ve never been a soccer diehard, but I’m enjoying this year’s tournament. And it’s got me thinking about what the hockey world should learn — and not learn — from the competition. Here are five that I’ve come up with:

DO learn: … how to start games on time. I made a classic hockey fan mistake last week. There was a game scheduled for 3 p.m. ET, and so I finished up some stuff I was working on and turned the TV on in time to catch the kickoff I figured would come at 3:15 or so. Oops, I missed the first 15 minutes of the game because when soccer tells you a start time, they actually mean it. It’s a wild concept, but maybe we could try it?

DO NOT learn: … how to flop. I mean, hockey players already do it. All the time, if we’re being honest. But nobody flops like a soccer player, and while it’s almost a cliched complaint at this point, it’s also a completely accurate one. After a month of watching guys roll around on the grass with their faces in their hands, I’m begging for a Michael McCarron arm shake.

DO learn: … how to get those automatic computer-generated offside images. I realize virtually nobody truly likes soccer’s VAR replay system, with the possible exception of those “just get it right” weirdos who think the reason we watch sports is to nitpick over freeze frames in an effort to make sure nothing cool ever counts. But if we have to have replay, let’s at least embrace technology that goes beyond linesmen staring at a tiny iPad.

DO NOT learn: … that overtime isn’t sudden death. Yes, I understand that soccer has tried its version of sudden death — the “golden goal” — and it didn’t work because teams played too conservatively. That’s fine for soccer. Let them do full overtime periods followed by ridiculous shootouts. Just not ever in hockey, where sudden death is just about the best thing the sport has to offer.

DO learn: … how to work the word “cheeky” into your coverage. I love this word and am already using it way too often in my daily life. But we need it in hockey. When was the last time you saw a hockey goal you’d call cheeky? OK, fine, but other than that one.

And mone more I’m not sure about …

MAYBE learn: … to let goalies wear a different jersey? I get that there’s a reason for it in soccer, while nobody’s confused over who’s who in a hockey game where one guy on each team is a sumo wrestler wearing your couch cushions as pads. But should we steal the idea anyway, if only to give teams a new design to sell to fans? Put it this way: If we’re going to try to squeeze even more money out of uniforms — and we are — I think I’d rather this approach over cramming more ads on there. What do we think, gang?

Trivia time💡

Let’s keep the soccer theme going with a round of Who Am I?

I had a 15-season NHL career in the 1980s and 1990s, playing for seven different teams. But I was also drafted in the old North American Soccer League, where I played in several exhibition games. I also played in the National Soccer League and the Canadian Soccer League, making me one of the NHL’s few genuine two-sport athletes.

If you’re old enough to have seen me play, you may know about my soccer exploits because announcers would often bring it up. Or maybe you just figured it out based on my signature move: Winning a crucial faceoff by tying up my opponent and playing the puck with my feet.

I started my career with the Flyers and also had long stints in Toronto and St. Louis, plus four other stops. Oh, and I’m one of only two players in NHL history with my specific set of initials — the other one plays for the Bruins. Who am I? Answer below.

Coast to Coast

📈 One of my favorite summer columns just dropped: Dom’s ranking of every team’s offseason.

🥅 Prospect expert Scott Wheeler has been busy, with his Top 100 drafted skater prospects to go with his Top 20 goalies.

🔄 Did you know that offer sheets used to mean forced trades? We brought that system back to figure out what deals for guys like Shea Weber, Sergei Fedorov and Sebastian Aho would have looked like.

😧Shayna breaks out the latest edition of the concern-o-meter.

⚔️Matt and Murat sit down and see if they can get this Connor Hellebuyck-to-Buffalo deal done.

😈Nice little bargain signing by the Devils here.

🦣Finally, Peter lands a behind-the-scenes on how the Vincent Trochek deal came together.

🎙️The Athletic Hockey Show Prospect Series broke down Scott’s prospects ranking plus a great debate about Rangers forward Gabe Perreault’s ceiling with a comparison to reigning league MVP Nikita Kucherov. Listen here.

No Dumb Questions

We believe that in hockey, as in life, there are no dumb questions. So if you have something you’ve always wondered about the sport, ask away by emailing us at redlight@theathletic.com.

Oh, I remembered something else I like about soccer: When a team is trailing late and their goalie runs up and joins the offense. Speaking of which …

I’m old enough to remember when Patrick Roy tried to skate past the center ice line and join the rush. But goalies can’t participate in play past the center ice red line? Why not? — Chris B.

I’ll be honest, I’m mainly including Chris’s question because I know some of our readers will have never seen this clip, and we need to fix that right away.

This is from a Nov. 16, 1997 game between the Avalanche and Rangers. It was actually a reasonably hyped matchup, featuring Joe Sakic’s first game in New York since signing an offer sheet with the Rangers that the Avs matched. That story is also weird. Harrison Ford gets involved. But that’s a tale for another time.

On this night, the Rangers are up 4-1 with three minutes left when Roy decided to do this:

I’d strongly encourage you to watch the whole thing, preferably via this YouTube clip that is now old enough to vote, if only so you can enjoy an A+ reaction from announcer John Davidson.

You may ask: What was Patrick Roy thinking? To which I reply: What was Patrick Roy ever thinking? We were just happy he was skating out to center ice to do something other than fight a Red Wings goalie.

Oh, and to make it even better: Did you notice that guy Roy deked out the start of the play? That was some kid named Wayne Gretzky. It’s a good thing he never won a Selke, because getting put on a poster by a goalie is the kind of thing that gets them retroactively taken away.

Ah, good times.

Oh right, Chris’ question. Why is this a penalty? The specific rule here is 27.7, Participating in the Play Over the Center Red Line, and it simply reads that, “If a goalkeeper participates in the play in any manner (intentionally plays the puck or checks an opponent) when he is beyond the center red line, a minor penalty shall be imposed upon him.”

You’ll note that they don’t actually say what the penalty should be, presumably because they figured they’d never have to call it. According to the official box score, Roy ended up getting two for leaving the crease, which wasn’t really the problem here but was apparently close enough.

(Also note that the goalie can cross center as long as he doesn’t participate in the play, which is why you can still pull your goalie on a delayed penalty in the second period even with the long change.)

As for why we have this rule in the first place, I’d always assumed that it had been in the books from the beginning, although that seems to be in dispute, with some sources suggesting the rule was added in the 1970s.

Either way, I think we can all agree that life would be better if the NHL scrapped the rule entirely. Until then, watch that red line, guys — and maybe take a lesson from how Glenn Hall did it.

Your trivia answer … 

Our two-sport star is Peter Zezel, the gritty two-way center who probably shut down your favorite team’s star player when it mattered most. Zezel was even recognized by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, winning the inaugural Brian Budd Award for accomplished players who also excelled in other fields.

(And if you were wondering, the only other P.Z. in NHL history is Boston’s Pavel Zacha.)

One day before the office of Texas attorney general Ken Paxton released a letter threatening legal action against the Big 12 conference if it moved to sanction Texas Tech over quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility saga, Texas Tech board of regents chair and billionaire booster Cody Campbell donated $274,300 in support of Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign.

According to a recent batch of campaign finance records filed to the Federal Election Committee, Campbell made the donation on June 10 to Paxton Victory, a joint fundraising committee for Paxton’s ongoing run for Senate as the Texas Republican nominee. On June 11, Paxton’s attorney general office sent a formal letter to the Big 12 Conference on behalf of Texas Tech University stating any penalties imposed by the Big 12 regarding Sorsby would be considered “unlawful” and met with legal action.

Under Texas state law, the attorney general represents Texas Tech University in court and legal proceedings, and the university’s general counsel interacts with the attorney general’s office.

Campbell declined to comment on the matter. The Texas attorney general office and Paxton’s Senate campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Texas Tech did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Texas Tribune first reported the news of Campbell’s donation on Wednesday night. Additional campaign finance records show that Campbell regularly donates to Republican politics nationally and in Texas. This includes multiple donations to Wesley Hunt and his campaign for the same U.S. Senate seat, as well as to incumbent Texas senator John Cornyn; Hunt and Cornyn were Paxton’s opponents in the Republican primary race, which Paxton won in March.

Campbell made prior donations to Paxton’s Senate campaign dating back to 2025 and to Paxton in his capacity as attorney general. The June 10 donation to Paxton’s Senate campaign represents Campbell’s largest one-time amount given toward a state-level politician dating back to 2016, according to campaign finance databases.

The June 11 letter from Paxton’s state office came days after Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas state court that briefly reinstated his athletic eligibility for the 2026 college football season. The injunction overruled the NCAA, which deemed Sorsby permanently ineligible this spring for committing thousands of gambling violations during his college career, including betting on his own team as a member of Indiana in 2022.

The court’s decision was met with immediate and intense backlash across college sports, with much of the ire directed at Texas Tech. Many urged the Big 12, of which Texas Tech is a member, to levy its own sanctions against Sorsby and/or Tech if it elected to play the quarterback this upcoming season.

Texas Tech was not involved in Sorsby’s lawsuit against the NCAA that was granted a temporary injunction, but Tech officials, including Campbell, were publicly supportive of Sorsby’s eligibility battle.

On June 15, the Big 12 filed a federal lawsuit against Paxton, Texas Tech, and university administrators, seeking a declaratory judgment that the conference could sanction Texas Tech under its league bylaws, and that those bylaws were protected by the First Amendment — a direct response to Paxton’s letter.

Later that same day, it was announced that Sorsby was leaving the Red Raiders to focus on the NFL.

“The decision was made with Brendan and his family and is purely an output of practical analysis of the situation,” Campbell wrote in a June 15 statement. “Brendan and Texas Tech stand on very solid and legitimate legal ground, but he faces a June 22nd deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft, and there is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date. This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future, as well as for his teammates, and our university.”

The timing and nature of the Big 12’s lawsuit against Paxton and Texas Tech contributed to the end of Sorsby’s college football career, according to previous reporting by The Athletic.  Numerous legal experts argued that Paxton’s letter bolstered the Big 12’s argument on First Amendment grounds, allowing the league to file in federal jurisdiction as opposed to another Texas state court.

“(The Paxton letter) was a misstep of epic proportions to say the least because without that letter, there’s no (Big 12) lawsuit,” sports attorney Tom Mars told The Athletic.

The Big 12’s lawsuit remains active and ongoing.

The NFL ultimately rejected Sorsby’s application for the supplemental draft this summer, and Sorsby announced last month that he will sit out the 2026 season and prepare for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Campbell, a former Texas Tech offensive lineman and co-founder of Double Eagle Energy Holdings, has become one of the most prominent college sports boosters in recent years through his support of Tech athletics. He also serves as an advisor to President Donald Trump and the presidential committee on college sports, and is heavily involved in the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan Senate bill introduced in May.

Paxton was elected as Texas attorney general in 2014 and is running against Democratic nominee James Talarico for the Senate seat. A Democrat has not won a statewide race in Texas since 1994, but recent polling suggests a tight race between Paxton and Talarico ahead of a Nov. 3 vote.

— The Athletic‘s Chris Vannini contributed reporting.