Norwich City must regret 2023 agreement with multi-million-pound loss set to be confirmed: View | OneFootball

With the news confirmed that Christos Tzolis has moved to Fortuna Dusseldorf for a reported £3 million fee, Norwich City must be scratching their heads at where it all went wrong with the Greek forward.

German publication Bild first shared the news that the forward is set to make the move to the 2. Bundesliga outfit on a permanent basis this summer, following his season-long loan move from Carrow Road agreed last year.

That deal was also said to have an option to buy inserted into it, which Fortuna were all too happy to make the most of after their season came to an end, with Tzolis having notched 22 goals in his 30 league appearances while in Germany.

The move brings an end to a disappointing three year association with the Canaries, as he failed to live up to the billing after the fanfare that greeted his arrival.

Christos Tzolis failed to deliver for Norwich City as Fortuna Dusseldorf look set to profit

There was plenty of hype surrounding Tzolis when he initially made the move to Norfolk in the summer of 2021, with the Greek star joining in a club-record £8.8 million deal from PAOK in his homeland.

Tzolis was brought in to aid the East Anglian's chances of survival in the Premier League, but failed to make much of an impact in his first season in the English game, as he failed to register a league goal in any of his 14 appearances.

Things didn’t fare any better once relegation had been confirmed, with a loan move to Dutch side FC Twente confirmed for the next campaign, where he registered three goals in 14 matches before returning to England halfway through the campaign.

After ending the season in Norfolk without making much of an impact under David Wagner, the Canaries must have thought they had struck an excellent deal with Dusseldorf last summer, as they offloaded their flop of a frontman onto the German outfit for the whole season.

The £3 million option to buy clause must have seemed fanciful at the time, with no one in their right mind spending that on a misfiring attacker, but Tzolis has since proven to be worth every penny of that and more.

The Greek maestro came flying out the blocks for his new side, with six goals in as many matches to start the campaign, before netting 24 times in all competitions over the course of the campaign, as he fired Dusseldorf into the play-off spots in the German second tier.

Had his side been promoted, the fee for Tzolis would reportedly have risen to £4.25 million, which would still have been a bargain for a player who has rediscovered his form in front of goal and the spring in his step.

Unfortunately for them, they missed out in dramatic fashion to VFL Bochum on Monday, with the two-legged affair ending 3-3 on aggregate, before their opponents won on penalties.

Werder Bremen, Borussia Monchengladbach, Union Berlin all eying up move for Christos Tzolis

Even if he was a wanted man in Norfolk or not, the main factor that City will be ruing this summer is letting Tzolis leave on the cheap after such a resounding campaign.

A number of clubs in Germany’s top flight are said to be interested in the Greek star, and the East Anglian outfit could have stood to recoup most, if not all, of their initial outlay on the attacker from three years ago following his return to form.

The likes of Werder Bremen, Union Berlin and Borussia Monchengladbach are all said to have interest in bringing the striker to the club, and that move could still happen regardless of the deal between Norwich and Dusseldorf.

Fortuna sporting director Klaus Allofs had previously gone on record about his side’s financial predicament when asked about the Tzolis deal, stating: "If you look at the situation very objectively, we don’t have the money. We will still keep our eyes open and are already having discussions with Christos and his advisor to find a solution.”

That admission opens up the idea of the second tier outfit immediately cashing in on Tzolis this summer, and swelling their coffers as a result of a canny bit of contractual business last summer.

Tzolis himself all but admitted he can’t see a future for himself in the second tier after failing to win promotion this year, adding fuel to the fire about those particular rumours.

He said to ESPN after the playoff defeat: "I am really, really disappointed. I wanted to continue with Fortuna but I think it's really difficult for me to stay now in the second division.

"Fortuna will be in my heart forever and is one of my favourite clubs. The fans deserve better and I hope Fortuna can be in the Bundesliga next season."

That news will leave City ruing that option to buy even more, with another club likely to make millions from the sale of their player, while they face a massive loss on their initial outlay.