It was 17 years ago today, when Cesc Fabregas had one of the most mercurial debuts in Premier League history for Arsenal.
Perhaps we don’t remember Cesc Fabregas’ time as an Arsenal player too much, but his debut with the Gunners is 17 years old today. Out of all the youngsters Arsene Wenger took from some major clubs, perhaps the Spaniard was the most talented. The French boss was always the talk of the town when he visited any European country to watch academies from the biggest institutions.
Every time Real Madrid Castilla or La Masia played official matches during that time, people expected Arsenal scouts to be in the stands. That’s how they caught a 14-year-old Cesc when he was still in Leo Messi’s class of 1987. Wenger immediately asked his people to begin negotiations for him and eventually convinced his parents to send him to North London.
Watching him play with such cadence and ease was a treat at such an early age, this made Wenger promise him an early debut with the Arsenal jersey. It would eventually come on October 28, 2003. It was during a third-round League Cup match against Rotherham at Highbury Stadium. He was 16 years and 177 days old. That was already a record that remains to this day as Arsenal’s youngest-ever debutant in an official football match.
Fabregas’ mercurial rise to stardom.
We need to understand the context in which Cesc Fabregas began his career as a professional footballer. The kid was only 16 years old and he was pushed into the legendary ‘Invincibles’. He surprised every single player on that squad with his natural talent. Many of them even wondered if he was really a teenager because he played like a veteran.
A month after his debut, Fabregas became the youngest-ever Arsenal goal-scorer and he wore the captain’s armband at 21. Although he didn’t really win important trophies with the Gunners during his run, everybody remembers him fondly at the club. Cesc’s success came years later on the international level by winning three back-to-back international trophies with Spain.
He also made his dream come true when he signed for FC Barcelona in 2011 and eventually returned to England with Chelsea. After finally winning the Premier League as a Blue, Cesc can only say that the Champions League is the only title that resisted him throughout his blistering career. Very few will argue that Fabregas is one of the most exquisite midfielders in English football history. Today, we celebrate the day he took his first steps as a professional.
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