UPDATED: I never wanted to leave Norwich City for no reason

Christos Tzolis understood he would only play a supporting role in Norwich City’s Championship promotion push, but he never wanted to leave the team.

Tzolis has been a revelation while on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf in Bundesliga 2, contributing 22 goals in 23 games and earning a recall to the Greek national team for the play-off match against Kazakhstan on Thursday for the European Championship.

The 22-year-old, who is under contract at Carrow Road until 2025, is linked to Werder Bremen, the newest Bundesliga team. Fortuna has a buy commitment, subject to promotion.

Tzolis allegedly drew interest from German powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund when he contributed a goal and an assist in the team’s league victory over Hamburg earlier this month.

The deal that brought Tzolis to Norfolk had a sizable sell-on clause negotiated by his previous club, PAOK Salonika, but the winger is only concerned with having a successful season finale.

“I have nothing insane in mind, so I won’t say much. I consider the current year. He declared, “I want to get as many matches as I can.” “May the squad reach its objective and get a top three finish. I believe it to be a realistic objective, but we also need to demonstrate it on the pitch. My personal aims are to assist as many people as I can and score as many goals as I can.

“I sensed right away that the coach trusted me to play a significant part on the squad and not just be a rotation player. I wouldn’t be the one to step in for ten or fifteen minutes as a substitute and then have to demonstrate my ability to assist within that period. That’s what happened to me at Norwich.

“I would only be able to play for a short while as a substitute, so I felt under pressure to show that I could contribute during that time.”

Tzolis was surplus to requirements following the arrival of Jon Rowe and the signings of Christian Fassnacht and Borja Sainz.

The narrative was a little peculiar. In a recent wide-ranging interview with Greek publication Gazzetta, he stated, “I trained with Norwich and I had started well, I didn’t want to leave.” But frequently, not every choice is made by us. The coach informed me that I would not be getting much playing time this season when we chatted.

The Fortuna Dusseldorf team was the first to show interest in me. Every two to three days, they would contact my management and see me during friendly games. Their attitude particularly appealed to me because it made it clear that I will be useful to the team. I realised that they would help me and that I would get the much-needed involvement time. For me, this was the most important factor.

Prior to Norwich’s second attempt at the Premier League in 2021, Tzolis was a high-profile signing, although he only made three starts in the top level.

“I received multiple offers from Belgian and Bundesliga teams,” he stated. “I was aware, of course, that this is a historically significant squad playing in the world’s top league. Although I had other choices, they could not financially support PAOK.

“I was aware that PAOK and Norwich were negotiating, and that an initial offer had been made and turned down. My understanding of what transpired improved significantly when I played my new team’s first game against Liverpool and then again against Manchester City. All of a sudden, I was playing with Kevin De Bruyne and Virgil van Dijk.

“Playing against these football players on these fields in this environment was an amazing feeling. You must, however, remain true to who you are and live it. not merely showing up and then being able to claim to have participated. The most important thing is to play and change the world.

“I was patient in the first year. “I may not play this year, but I will play more next year,” I was telling myself. Because I’m young and the team paid a lot to acquire me, they will assist me. In the end, I never thought I would get the playing time I want at Norwich. Since I was young, I have always loved to play, and I always had a ball at my feet when I went somewhere.

“All of a sudden, I wasn’t even included in the squad for certain matches. I was negatively impacted by being left off of the national team as a result of this. I was wondering why I wasn’t getting called up for the national team, even though I was playing for a squad in the best league in the world.