Arsenal star makes big move as Mikel Arteta cracks down on team leaks
Arsenal’s new signing, Christos Tzolis, had to take some big steps after his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) team got leaked last week.
Tzolis had a great season with Club Brugge in Belgium and joined the Premier League champions this summer for £34 million. The Greek player has appeared 10 times so far, including coming off the bench in a 2-1 Champions League win over Slavia Prague. He even started in the 1-0 win against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday. But it seems Tzolis might have caused manager Mikel Arteta to set a strict new rule about fantasy football.
It was revealed that Tzolis’ FPL team got leaked before the Liverpool game, and it clearly showed he was starting. His team included himself and Arsenal teammates Riccardo Calafiori and Ezri Konsa, along with stars like Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Morgan Rogers.
However, fans noticed that’s changed now. Tzolis used his wildcard to remove all Arsenal players from his team. He still has Haaland, Rogers, and Thierno Barry, but no Arsenal players at all. According to Highbury Corner, a staff member at Arsenal has done the same.
It seems this rule came from the top to stop any future leaks. Arteta is known for paying attention to details, and now no one at the club is allowed to have Arsenal players in their FPL teams—even if it means missing out on points.
This kind of thing isn’t new. Back in 2021, Aston Villa’s manager Dean Smith got very upset when news about Jack Grealish’s injury leaked through FPL. Some Villa players had already taken Grealish out of their fantasy teams before the official announcement. Smith said he would find out where the leak came from and reprimand those responsible. He added, “I don’t play it, I live in the real world, not the fantasy world.”
Smith offered a simple solution for his players: either don’t play FPL or use a fake name. It looks like Arsenal is now doing something similar to keep their plans private.