“I really like this kid” – Arsenal legend names the player who should be given “free rein” in Arteta’s side

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon has heaped praise onto summer signing Christos Tzolis after his impressive start for the team in pre-season.

The Greece international joined the Gunners from Club Brugge earlier in the window, and scored on his debut in a friendly victory over Girona.

Tzolis also picked up assists against Real Betis and Borussia Dortmund, so there are early signs there of Arsenal landing themselves a quality player.

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Dixon has certainly been impressed with what he’s seen, with the pundit calling on Mikel Arteta to give the 24-year-old “free rein” in this team for the start of the season to see what he can offer.

Arsenal legend Lee Dixon praises Christos Tzolis

Discussing Arsenal’s options out wide, Dixon admitted that a signing like Tzolis has been needed for some time.

Tzolis came in to replace Leandro Trossard this summer, and the former Arsenal right-back even thinks this could’ve been a signing for the club to do a year earlier.

“I’ve always said we need to strengthen that left-wing position,” Dixon said, as quoted by the Metro.

“Even the season before they won the league, I said (and it might have been a bit harsh), I don’t think you win the Premier League with Leandro Trossard as your starting left winger.

“Having said that, last season he played some really important games and scored some crucial goals. It has become much more of a squad game where he and Gabriel Martinelli have rotated and done really well together.

“But the player who stands out for me is Tzolis. I really like this kid. I think he’s that next level up from Trossard. Martinelli is a bit off-the-cuff – you don’t always know what you’re going to get.

“So I think we should give Tzolis a bit of free rein and see how he goes in the first six or seven games.”

Do Arsenal need more in attack?

Some Arsenal fans will still feel the club need more options in attack, even if Tzolis has shown some promise so far.

AFC were at one point optimistic about signing Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, according to AS, but he ended up signing a new contract.

There aren’t that many other options out there at the moment, but it perhaps seems a bit of a risk to go into the new season with Tzolis and Martinelli as the main options on the left.

Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke can also fill in there, but it’s not the best position for either player, so it will be interesting to see how things develop in the final few days of the window.