Top 10 Incredible Facts about Cesc Fàbregas

Arsenal’s Cesc Fàbregas (white shirt) duels with Anderson of Manchester United. Photo by Gordon Flood. Wikimedia Commons.

Top 10 Incredible Facts about Cesc Fàbregas

Francesc “Cesc” Fàbregas Soler is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian Serie B club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona’s youth academy, leaving at 16 when he was signed by Premier League club Arsenal in September 2003. Following injuries to key midfielders in the early part of the 2004–05 season, he went on establish himself in the team.

He broke several of the club’s records in the process, earning a reputation as one of the best players in his position, and won the FA Cup in 2005. Let’s look at the Top 10 Incredible Facts about Cesc Fàbregas.

1. He went to his first match at 9 months old

Cesc Fàbregas. Photo by Ronnie Macdonald. Wikimedia Commons.

Born in Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia, to Francesc Fàbregas Sr., who runs a property company, and Núria Soler, the owner of a pastry company, Fàbregas has supported FC Barcelona since childhood and went to his first match when he was nine months old with his grandfather.

He began his club football career with CE Mataró before being signed for Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy aged ten in 1997. His first coach, Señor Blai, reportedly did not select Fàbregas for matches against Barcelona in an attempt to hide him from their scouts.

2. He was Arsenal’s youngest player at one point

He made his debut for Arsenal on 28 October 2003, in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham United. In doing so, he became Arsenal’s youngest-ever first team player, aged 16 years and 177 days.

He then became the youngest goalscorer in Arsenal’s history in a later round of the League Cup, scoring in a 5–1 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Although Arsenal went on to win the league unbeaten in the 2003–04 season, Fàbregas was not awarded a winner’s medal because he did not play a single league game.

3. His playing style is unique

At Chelsea, Fàbregas played a playmaking role in midfield, using his technique, ball control, vision, and passing ability to dictate the tempo of his team’s play, while he was supported by defensive midfielders, in order to give him more space and time on the ball, due to his own lack of pace, stamina, defensive skills, and athleticism.

In this deeper creative role, he excelled in Chelsea’s new style of play under Mourinho, where he proved to be an effective assist-provider.

4. Fàbregas is married to Daniella Semaan

Fàbregas married his long time Lebanese girlfriend Daniella Semaan in May 2018. Together they have three children, daughters Lia (born 2013), Capri (born 2015), and son Leonardo (born 2017). In July 2013, Fàbregas won a court case over the marital home with Semaan’s ex-husband.

5. He has a sponsorship deal with the sportswear Puma

Cesc Fabregas. Photo by Aleksandr Osipov from Ukraine. Wikimedia Commons.

In 2011, Fàbregas signed a sponsorship deal with German sportswear and equipment supplier, Puma. He appeared in an advert for the new Puma PowerCat 1.12 in September 2011 and was one of the flagship wearers of Puma’s PowerCat range of football boots.

When the PowerCat was succeeded by the evoPower, again Fàbregas was the forefront of Puma’s marketing campaign. In January 2014, the brand launched a C4 evoPower boot, specifically designed for just Fàbregas to wear.

6. Fàbregas has featured on TV programs

Fàbregas starred in his own one-time only television programme, called “The Cesc Fàbregas Show: Nike Live”, that aired on 19 May 2008. The programme was sponsored by Nike and was shown on Sky Sports.

The show featured Fàbregas in several sketches with then Arsenal teammates like Philippe Senderos and Nicklas Bendtner, as well as coach Arsène Wenger, Fàbregas’ parents and Little Britain star Matt Lucas.

7. Fàbregas has held the title of Arsenal captain

Cesc Fàbregas & Younes Kaboul. Photo by Ronnie Macdonald. Wikimedia Commons.

In November 2008, Fabregas captained Arsenal for the first time. Wenger had taken away the captaincy from William Gallas and informed the supporters that it will be Fabregas who will be leading the club. It was not a major successful campaign for Fabregas though as injury hampered his campaign for the Gunners.

But Captaining Arsenal at an age of 21 was something pretty huge for a Spaniard and spoke of how highly Wenger used to rate him. Fabregas has always spoken of the influence Arsene Wenger has had over his career and credit should surely go to Wenger for bringing out the best in Fabregas.

8. He scored a goal with a mask over his broken nose

A crucial win towards the end of the 2014-15 campaign was the hard-fought and rather low quality 1-0 grind-fest at Loftus Road against QPR, who were desperately trying to avoid relegation. Chelsea managed just one shot on target all afternoon, but it was enough to collect all three points.

Cesc, having difficulty breathing with the protective mask for his broken nose (thanks, Charlie Adam’s elbow), steered his shot through a crowd into the bottom corner in the 88th minute, and into his own memory banks.

9. He assisted in scoring a world cup goal

Spanish footballer Cesc Fàbregas. Photo by Harald Loos / Puma SE. Wikimedia Commons.

Given the embarrassment of riches in Spain’s midfield, Fàbregas didn’t always get the opportunities he perhaps deserved at international level, and he actually started the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands on the bench behind Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets.

He entered the game in the 87th minute when the score was still tied at 0-0 and gave Spain some fresh legs for extra time. It was Fàbregas’ pass in the 116th minute which found Iniesta unmarked in the box, and the Barcelona man fired home to seal the glory for Spain.

10. He won the 2012/13 La Liga season

Having come through the Barcelona academy, Fàbregas took the long route to the first team, but finally managed to win La Liga in the 2012/13 season. Playing in the false nine role which he popularised in the modern era, Fàbregas ended the season with 14 goals and 14 assists in all competitions as Barcelona.

This season also included one of his most dominant performances in Spain – a 5-0 win over RCD Mallorca in which he bagged three goals (the first hat-trick of his career) and two assists. It was his first league title victory, but it definitely was not his last.