Francesc Fabregas: Spanish marvel blossoms out of the world of his mentors

Arsenal's midfield prodigy belies his tender years as he demonstrates a rare ability to read the game. Nick Townsend talks to a talent on the fast track

His lithe, deceptively powerful frame is still growing, mostly upwards - they say four or five inches since the midfielder has been at Highbury - and strengthening, though you suspect he is never likely to bulk into a Micky Quinn.

Yet, as you converse, you haveconstantly to remind yourself that Cesc Fabregas, still way off coming of age (at least as we used to recognise that transition into adulthood) is in his third season as a senior player. Perhaps it is a precocity he shares with Wayne Rooney? "No, not really," says the young Spaniard, dismissing such a comparison. "Wayne started younger than me. He was in the international team when he was 17. I am still playing for the [Spain] Under-21s at the moment.

"To play with the England first team when you are only 17 is just unbelievable, and to be a goalscorer in the Euro Championship when you are 18 is tremendous. And there's Cristiano Ronaldo as well, playing for Portugal." He pauses before reflecting: "But it's good that in this country they [the clubs] give the chance to young people."

Certainly Arsène Wenger had no compunction in deferring to a belief that talented enough is old enough. The antithesis of a Club 18-25 reveller, Fabregas arrived in London having left behind the possibilities of a rather more hedonistic existence on the Costa Brava. He could scarcely have dared to imagine how swiftly he would be fast-tracked to perform with the élite. "Sometimes it's difficult to believe what has happened to me," he concedes in his fast-improving English. "Now I'm 18 and I've played more than 60 games in the Arsenal first team. I'm very happy; everything's going very quickly at the moment. But I try to keep my feet on the ground and just be the same boy that I've always been."

When he says "boy" it reminds you again that he is just that. Not, say, the mid-twenties his genial self-assurance suggests. "When everything goes so quickly, and you are enjoying it, you don't think about how old you are," he says. "But sometimes I sit down, and realise that what I've achieved in the last two or three years is something different for a boy of my age. All my friends back home are going to discotheques, things like that, but instead I came here on my own to a big club, where there is great pressure to succeed. I still try to do the things that an 18-year-old does, but I work hard because I want to play for the first team."

"Youth," it was once written, "will come here and beat on my door, and force its way in." Ibsen's eponymous The Master Builder feared such an intrusion; in an altogether different context, Wenger, architect of the Highbury project, positively welcomes it. Patrick Vieira may have departed and Dennis Bergkamp entered his valedictory season, but the Arsenal manager has declined, because of sheer faith in the potential of such imports as Juan Antonio Reyes, Mathieu Flamini and Fabregas, to replace directly such iconic figures. Fabregas offers a handsome testament to the part both have played in his ascendancy.

"Dennis is 36 years old - do you know, my dad is only three years older than him! - and he's played in countless World Cups, European Championships; yet, when you see him training he's just like a kid. He wants to win. He hates losing. He's so professional. For me, he's a legend."

He adds: "Patrick, too, was always a massive influence; he would talk to me a lot during games, and outside games. Even when I had a bad game, he came to me and said, 'Look, you are young', and explained a lot of things to me, things that had happened to him. Bad moments. Good moments. I'm very lucky to have had these kind of players next to me."

On Tuesday night at the Ajax Stadium, Fabregas demonstrated what fine mentors that duo have been. Injuries to Gilberto Silva and Bergkamp dictated that Reyes should provide the attacking focus, ahead of Flamini and Fabregas in central midfield. "That night we showed our character, and our discipline; we showed that we are winners," says Fabregas. "I think it was a quite good game from Mathieu and me, because we were always together, communicating all the time. Of course, it's great to have centre-backs like Sol Campbell who are always talking to you and making sure you are in the right position. You can learn so much from a player like him."

It was Fabregas's perception which would provide a splendidly weighted pass to Reyes, whose acceleration induced the goalkeeper, Hans Vonk, to fell him in the area, yielding the penalty converted by Robert Pires. "Tuesday was quite a difficult game because they were putting a lot of pressure on centre-midfield, so you have to think about when you can go up and when to stay back," is how Fabregas explains the dilemmas of that role. "It's a kind of situation when you have to be intelligent and see when you can make the final ball, and when to take a touch and wait a little bit."

It is that vision which commended Fabregas to Wenger more than two years ago and which resulted in one of the Frenchman's infamous "steals", the Spaniard being inveigled, at no cost, from Barcelona, that leviathan of Spanish football only a few miles up the coast from Fabregas's home town of Arenys de Mar.

His inspiration had been Josep Guardiola, the "heartbeat" of that Dream Team of the early 1990s, when Johan Cruyff's side won four La Liga championships in a row, and the European Cup. "A fantastic team," he reels the names off. "Especially as, when I was playing for the youth team, I wore the No 4 shirt in front of the defence, just like Guardiola."

Fabregas, son of Francesc Snr, who runs his own property company, adds: "I will always be a fan of Barcelona. I first went to the stadium when I was nine months old, with my grandad. Even if you change your team, it doesn't mean that you change your sentiments. But Arsenal gave me an opportunity. It's like you are standing at a station and there's a train that you must take. It's the opportunity of your life."

He adds: "I talked to a lot of people, all my family, especially, and people here, too, and we thought it was the best decision. We came here for the first time and we see all this." He refers to Arsenal's impressive training set-up. "We talked to Arsène Wenger and everything looked great. I was 16. At Barcelona, I was playing for the Under-16s. Here, they gave me the opportunity to play for the reserves straight away, soon the Carling Cup. It gave me the motivation that I needed. Now I want to improve, get more mature, get more experience.

"When you are young, sometimes you don't think; you just run, run, run. Sometimes you have to think about the game, read the game. I have an FA Cup final winners' medal [against Manchester United last May], but I like to win everything. My special objective this season is the League. I know it's going to be difficult, but we believe in ourselves. Chelsea are doing great, but I think we can come back."

Fabregas shares a house with Philippe Senderos, and relaxes by watching films and emailing all his friends back home, but mostly his girlfriend, Carla. Just like any other 18-year-old really. He enjoys shopping, particularly for clothes. If he likes fashion, maybe he should be like Freddie Ljungberg, and become a model? He laughs, slightly embarrassed. "I'd like that, yes - maybe one day."

For the moment, he is content just being a model professional, and exuding a talent that truly belies his years.

BIOGRAPHY

Francesc Fabregas

Born: 4 May 1987, Arenys de Mar, Catalonia.

Arsenal career: Signed 11 September 2003 on a free transfer from Barcelona at 16, never having played a first-team game. Debut: 28 October 2003 v Rotherham in Carling Cup - he became the youngest-ever Arsenal first-team player at 16 years 177 days (Arsenal won on penalties). Arsenal record: 33 games, three goals.

Honours: Player of tournament at 2003 Under-17 World Cup, where he scored six goals and won the Golden Boot. Became Arsenal's youngest goalscorer (16 years 212 days) v Wolves in December 2003. Current Spain Under-21 player. Community Shield 2004. FA Cup 2005.