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Arsenal and Chelsea have gone into the summer transfer window with very different approaches.

While Stamford Bridge has approved another massive money move, Mikel Arteta and Andrea Berta have quietly handled their business with modern squad planning in mind.

Arsenal’s signing of Greek international winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge for £34m is excellent value, especially when Leandro Trossard’s departure for £15m is taken into account.

On a net basis, the Gunners have strengthened their attacking options for only £19m.

Beyond the money, the age difference is important. Swapping 31-year-old Trossard for a 24-year-old Tzolis lowers the squad’s average age while also bringing in fresh drive and a strong point to prove after Tzolis’ earlier unsuccessful spell in English football.

The Greek international’s recent record has been outstanding. At Fortuna Dusseldorf in the 2023/24 season, he scored 22 goals and added seven assists in 30 appearances in the 2. Bundesliga.

After those 2. Bundesliga performances, he earned a move to Club Brugge in Belgium, where Tzolis scored 43 goals and recorded 20 assists in 108 appearances across all competitions, including 33 goals in 74 Belgian Pro League matches.

The expectation is not that Tzolis will instantly match those prolific Belgian numbers. The step up in quality from the Pro League to the Premier League needs patience, but as a squad player learning under Arteta, his potential is huge compared with the modest amount Arsenal have spent.

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By contrast, Chelsea have spent £117m to bring in Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa. Unlike Tzolis, the 23-year-old Rogers arrives at Stamford Bridge with pressure to deliver immediately because of his huge price tag and his established Premier League reputation.

The move shows Chelsea’s habit of spending heavily under BlueCo ownership without a clear structural plan. Stamford Bridge is already crowded on the wings, with Pedro Neto, Jamie Gittens and now Rogers all fighting for game time.

From an outside point of view at least, adding another £100m-plus asset into an overloaded attacking group highlights a continuing lack of discipline in squad planning.

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Chelsea’s recent transfer record is full of costly mistakes, and none is more telling than Mykhaylo Mudryk. Signed for £88m in 2023, the Ukrainian winger has become a major drain on club resources. To make things worse, Mudryk is still unavailable after testing positive for the banned substance meldonium, which means Chelsea are paying major wages for a player who has been frozen out of competitive football.

To make room for Rogers, Chelsea sanctioned a season-long loan that sent Alejandro Garnacho to Aston Villa. This comes less than a year after buying the Argentine from Manchester United for £40m, a move that raised eyebrows at the time. While Garnacho’s exit removes an unnecessary wage burden from Xabi Alonso’s squad, doing it on loan is only a temporary fix and not a permanent financial solution.

By securing a winger with Tzolis’ record for a net spend of just £19m, Arsenal have shown foresight, patience and financial control. Chelsea, meanwhile, have spent £117m on Morgan Rogers to fill a position they could use to strengthen, but are hardly short of options in.

Rogers could realistically win the PFA Player of the Year next season; after all, he is hugely talented. But questions will keep being asked of Chelsea if he does not start strongly, because this is a club where, more often than not, there seems to be a semi-permanent sense of dressing-room unease, squad bloat and, ultimately, unrest.

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