Here is a quick look at the life and times of Arsenal's newly-installed skipper Francesc "Cesc" Fabregas Soler.

October 2003 - Joins Arsenal for US$3.4m (£2.25m) from Spanish giants Barcelona.

October 2003 - Cesc becomes Arsenal's youngest ever player at 16 years and 177 days after making his first-team debut in the League Cup victory at home over Rotherham United. Arsenal won on penalties 9-8.

December 2003 - He became Arsenal's youngest ever goalscorer after putting the ball in the back of the net in his side's 5-1 League Cup win at home over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

August 2004 - The Spaniard makes debut in the Premiership in Arsenal's 4-1 win at Everton.

August 2004 - Scores first Premiership goal in 3-0 home win over Blackburn Rovers.

December 2004 - Becomes second youngest goalscorer ever in the Champions League after scoring in his side's 5-1 win over Rosenborg at Highbury.

August 2005 - Extends contract at the North London club until the summer of 2011.

March 2006 - Fabregas plays first match for the full Spanish national team in 3-2 win over the Ivory Coast.

March 2006 - Cesc start his 50th Premiership match.

Juve 2006 - At 19 years and 41 days old, the midfielder becomes the youngest player for Spain to play in the World Cup after he debuted as a substitute in the 4-0 win over the Ukraine.

Juve 2006 - Makes first World Cup start in Spain's 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

August 2006 - Cesc scores a brace in Arsenal's 3-0 Champions' League win at Dinamo Zagreb.

October 2006 - Signs new contract at the Emirates Stadium club until 2014.

February 2007 - The Spaniard won January's Barclays Premiership player of the month award.

Mar 2007 - 20-year-old Cesc Fabregas takes over as the pillar of Arsenal midfield and gets Arsene Wenger's backing to be the next leader for Arsenal.

Sep 2007 - Named the premier league player of the month September and while his coach Arsene Wenger got the September coach award.

April 2008 - Fabregas was nominated for the PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards for the second year running.

May 2008 - Starred in his own one-time only television programme, called "The Cesc Fabregas Show: Nike Live", that aired on 19 May 2008.

June 2008 - The midfielder scored his first international goal in an European competition in Spain's 4–1 win over Russia in the group stages of Euro 2008.

June 2008 - Fabregas score the crucial penalty against Italy in the semi-final and plays well in the final to win the Euro 2008 title for Spain.

June 2008 - For his expectional play throughout the tournament Fabregas was named in the Team of the Tournament, a 23-man squad selected by the UEFA Technical Team to represent Euro 2008.

July 2008 - Arsenal.com Player of the Season is Cesc Fabregas. The midfielder deservedly polled 33.26 per cent of vote following his wonderful campaign for club and country.

November 2008 - Appointed as Arsenal's new captain at just 21 years of age.

Source: Arsenal.com