Rediscovering confidence and feeling the trust of those around him have helped Christos Tzolis recapture his form on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf.
The Norwich City loan export has netted six times in as many matches for the Bundesliga Two outfit, most recently converting a penalty in their 1-1 draw against Hannover at the Merkur-Spiel Arena.
Tzolis has hit the ground running since departing Norfolk for Germany in the summer as he bids to get his career back on track after 12 months of injury struggles and disappointing performances, including at the back end of last season for Norwich.
The winger has pinned his impressive start down to the faith that Fortuna Dusseldorf and coach Daniel Thioune have placed in him since his arrival. Tzolis believes there is plenty more to come before he returns to his top level.
“That wasn’t 100 percent of me by a long shot. I want to improve even further and I will become even better. I want to score as many goals as possible, but I haven't set myself a goal.
"The last few years have been difficult for me. I was also injured last season. Now it’s a new start for me with a new team and it’s going very well," Tzolis told Bild.
“It is the trust of the club and the coach. If you have confidence, you can improve. I haven't had that in recent years, but now I play with more freedom and enjoy football."
“I have already scored a lot of goals in my career and hopefully there will be more. But it's not my only move, I can also score goals in several ways. But I train this a lot, so it's not luck. If you practice that every day, you can score goals like that.”
Dusseldorf have the option to convert it into a permanent deal next summer, something that feels preferable for all parties after Tzolis' City career has failed to ignite.
Tzolis has confirmed he wanted Fortuna to have the option inserted. His focus is now trying to ensure it gets activated in the future.
“I don’t know, it’s out of my hands right now. I'm on loan for now, but the option is there for a good reason," the winger said.
"I also wanted the club to have this option. I now want to enjoy the season and have a great year with lots of wins with the team – I’m looking forward to that.”
