Fabregas pulls strings for Arsenal

(CNN) -- Although Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted taking "a gamble" in selling talismanic striker Thierry Henry to Barcelona, a poll amongst Gunners fans this summer, citing which player they would least like the club to sell, did not put the Frenchman top of the pile.

That honor went to Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas, the man who made the opposite journey to Henry when he was little more than a schoolboy, and whose growing influence on Wenger's side is a constant reminder to Spain's leading clubs that they allowed an incredibly gifted footballer to slip through their grasp.

Fabregas has been a superstar in the making ever since being poached by Wenger from Barcelona's youth academy aged just 16.

Wenger's reputation for nurturing young talent is legendary and the intelligent, articulate Fabregas soon recognised that the Frenchman's unique ability to bring out the best in players would benefit his career.

It did not take long for Fabregas to flourish under Wenger's expert tutelage. He became the club's youngest-ever first team player after appearing in an English League Cup tie -- and his goal against Wolves in the same competition made him the youngest scorer in Arsenal's history.

The sale of Patrick Vieira at the end of the 2004-5 season elevated Fabregas into a regular starting spot at the tender age of 18.

Although lacking Vieira's physical presence, Fabregas' exquisite touch on the ball, his ability to find team-mates with sliderule passes of varying lengths and his poise, mental strength and coolness under pressure, belied his tender years.

With Brazil captain Gilberto Silva playing the anchor role alongside him in midfield, Fabregas provided the skill and flair -- including a jaw-droppingly sublime display to help beat Real Madrid at the Bernabeu -- to lead Arsenal to the Champions League final, only succumbing late on to Barcelona's fightback.

Since that night in Paris, Wenger's squad has undergone a major upheaval. As well as Henry, experienced players like Freddie Ljungberg, Sol Campbell, Robert Pires, Ashley Cole and Dennis Bergkamp have all departed and the wily Frenchman has been slowly but surely putting together a young team, playing a style of total football that has been compared with the great Dutch side of the 1970s.

At the hub of this team is Fabregas.

Henry's final season at Arsenal proved a disappointing one with critics blaming the striker's strong personality, which allegedly intimidated his younger team-mates, as a reason why the club under-achieved last season.

But this season, without Henry, the contrast could not be greater.

Henry's goals are now being shared around the team and Fabregas himself has addressed the one area that, by his own admission, needed improving -- finding the net five times already this season to better his tally for the whole of last season and help the Gunners surge to the top of the English Premier League.

In recent interviews, Wenger has compared Fabregas to UEFA president Michel Platini, arguably the greatest player in French football history.

High praise indeed, but the comparison is not unjustified. The 20-year-old Spaniard is now vying with Kaka as the world's top midfield playmaker and, with Wenger recently extending his contract with the club, the sky is the limit to what the duo can achieve with Arsenal in the coming seasons. E-mail to a friend