Norwich City may come to regret allowing winger Christos Tzolis to sign a season-long loan with German second division team Fortuna Düsseldorf in the summer.
After the team was promoted to the Premier League in 2021, the Greek international relocated to Carrow Road. PAOK Salonika received an initial payment of £8.8 million for his services, but the move hasn’t gone as planned.
The 22-year-old played on loan with FC Twente throughout the 2022–2023 season before rejoining Norfolk to play for David Wagner in the latter half of the season. However, he was transferred to Dusseldorf prior to the commencement of the current campaign.
After making an impression in the 2. Bundesliga, Tzoils’ loan move to Dusseldorf comes with a buyout option, so the Canaries may see him leave Carrow Road come summertime.
Fortuna Düsseldorf is rumoured to have an option to purchase the player for €5 million; if they don’t win promotion, they will reportedly use this option and try to sell him for more. Last month, sources from the winger’s home nation suggested that Wolfsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach were also interested in purchasing him.
It’s possible that Norwich City erred in their Christos Tzolis transaction.
Fortuna Düsseldorf may receive a hefty transfer fee for Tzolis from Norwich; this would surpass the amount the Canaries would get from the Germans should they decide to fulfil their option to purchase.
Considering how well the forward has performed in Germany this season, there may be some remorse at Carrow Road that the team hasn’t given him more opportunities. Zeke Downes, a Norwich City fan analyst for FLW, thinks the team made a mistake by putting in a cheap option to buy.
Zeke told Football League World, “The whole thing with Tzolis is a little weird.
“I don’t think he was given much of an opportunity, and now that he has the potential, it is not surprising that he is doing so well.
“All he needs is a string of victories and a manager to boost his confidence, which he currently has.”
“I believe Norwich has handled the situation terribly overall.
The possibility to purchase at such a low price is particularly bothersome, as Düsseldorf may now take use of that clause and profit from him, which is a little crazy.
It’s incredibly annoying because, although receiving any money is fantastic, it also means we’ve lost a lot of money on him, so we really should have retained him or at least loaned him with no option to buy.
Season 2023–2024 for Christos Tzolis at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
In the most recent 2-0 victory over Hamburg for Fortuna Düsseldorf, Tzolis scored his 16th goal of the year.
Thanks to the Norwich City loanee’s strong season, the club’s victory moves them up to fourth in the 2. Bundesliga and puts them in the running for promotion.
Despite playing out wide, his 14 league goals rank him second in the league’s top scorers list, only two behind Robert Glatzel of Hamburg. This makes his accomplishment all the more remarkable.
In addition, he has six assists across all competitions, giving him 26 games and 22 goal contributions.
These are undoubtedly very impressive numbers, and Norwich ought to be kicking themselves for allowing him to go on loan.
Tzolis, who is 22 years old, can only become better, therefore Fortuna Düsseldorf might have gotten a steal this summer.
Although the Greek winger didn’t quite live up to the hype when he did play at Carrow Road, Norwich may come to regret approving an option to buy deal when they chose to loan him to Germany in the future.
