Christos Tzolis is the outstanding man at Fortuna Düsseldorf. A fan is now raising money to finance the purchase option for the England loanee.

Fortuna Düsseldorf can dream of returning to the Bundesliga at the start of the hot phase of the season. Thanks to a series of successes, the second division club has climbed to within touching distance of third place in the relegation places. The gap to Hamburger SV is just one point.

The outstanding man of the past few weeks – and actually of the entire season: Christos Tzolis. He has scored seven times in the last three games alone, and the Greek winger has a total of 15 goals and nine assists.

A bitter pill for all Fortuna fans: the 22-year-old is unlikely to be kept beyond the summer. The player’s loan contract from Norwich City ends in the summer and the financial hurdles for a permanent signing are high – probably too high for the traditional club.

Although Fortuna hold a purchase option, this would amount to five million euros in the event of promotion and 3.5 million euros for another season in the Bundesliga 2.

The state capital is unlikely to be able to raise these sums. This is where Michael Litwak comes into play. The Fortuna fan has started a fundraising campaign on the internet. He is collecting money for a permanent signing for Tzolis. And after all: three days after the start, the target of five million euros is still a long way off, but a good 16,500 euros have already been raised

The idea for the campaign came to Litwak at half-time during the 4:0 win against VfL Osnabrück last weekend and was actually only intended as a gag. “I didn’t expect the campaign to go so viral,” he explains to Forecasting.

540 people have already taken part. The amounts paid in range from a few euros to 1895 euros, which a Düsseldorf company transferred to the donation account. Nevertheless, Litwak knows that the five million mark is “very optimistic and cannot normally be reached”.

At the same time, the initiator emphasizes: “Nevertheless, this offers the opportunity to raise money for a good cause, for example for the Fortuna NLZ, and ideally perhaps to give the club a little financial support. I also see the fundraising campaign as a great way to encourage the fans once again to get behind our team so that we can finish the season with maximum success. “

The most important thing will be for Tzolis to maintain his strong form in the remaining eight games – and a possible relegation play-off. For now, the shooting star is away with the Greek national team. This is the attacker’s first call-up in almost two years. In the upcoming international matches and in the final spurt of the 2nd Bundesliga, Tzolis wants to recommend himself for participation in the European Championship.

Meanwhile, the club is already working on keeping the fan favorite. “If you look at the situation soberly, we don’t have the money. Nevertheless, we will keep our eyes open and are already in talks with Christos and his advisor to find a solution. We definitely want that,” sporting director Klaus Allofs told Bild at the start of the week. “Of course, a few things have to come together, but we haven’t given up yet.” In any case, Düsseldorf can be sure of the support of their own fans