Cesc Fabregas

Profile:

• Name:  Cesc Fabregas
• Born:  May 04, 1987 Vilassar de Mar, Casal de Curacion, Spain
• Position:  Midfielder 
• Squad Number:  4
• Previous Club(s):  Barcelona
• Joined Arsenal:  September 11, 2003

Along with Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique, Fabregas emerged from the Barcelona cantera but it is under the guidance of Arsene Wenger at Arsenal that he has become one of world football's most sought-after players. Barcelona, and his former colleagues, have mounted a relentless campaign to convince him to return to Camp Nou but Fabregas remains one of the Premier League's leading players at present. Unlike the aforementioned Messi, Fabregas left hometown club Barcelona at the age of just 16 when joining Arsenal in 2003 and it was a gamble that quickly paid off. After the club had gone unbeaten in 2003-04, Wenger could ignore the talent of Fabregas no longer and his stunning emergence the following season even convinced his manager to sell captain Patrick Vieira, such was his faith in the Spaniard who took the famous number four shirt.
An FA Cup final victory in 2005 aside, Fabregas may have been starved of silverware in North London but he is already regarded as one of the club's modern-day greats and has accumulated well over 200 appearances. The 2007-08 Young Player of the Year, Fabregas was installed as Arsenal captain in November2008 and has thrived in Arsenal's free-flowing formation as its creative lynchpin.
Fabregas also hit a rich seam of form in the 2009-10 season when operating in a more advanced role, scoring 19 goals in all competitions. He produced the assist for Andres Iniesta's winning goal in the 2010 World Cup final to become a world and European champion with Spain.
Strengths: A quite superb passer of the ball who possesses both excellent vision and the ability to dictate the pace and tempo of a contest. Has a strong character and mentality to complement his technical excellence and has become more potent in front of goal.
Weaknesses: Fabregas is largely impeccable but a lack of real pace is noticeable.
Career high: Poking the ball through for Andres Iniesta to score the winning goal in the World Cup final in 2010.
Career low: Defeat to his former club Barcelona in the final of the 2006 Champions League.
Style: Composed, cultured, creative, a wonderful passer.
Quotes: "His vision is comparable to [Michel] Platini, and that is a compliment. He is at the start of his career and we know that Platini has finished his. Cesc has it all in front of him, but he has a vision and he will develop still more." Arsene Wenger, September 2007.
Trivia: Fabregas became Arsenal's youngest ever player in any competition on October 28, 2003 when appearing in a League Cup tie against Rotherham aged just 16 years and 177 days.

Source: Soccernet