Wenger and Gilberto heap praise on Cesc

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
14 Apr	3:00 PM	P	Bolton Wanderers (H)	2	1	Win

Following his nomination for the PFA Players' Player of the Year and the PFA Young Player of the Year award, Cesc Fabregas has received heaps of praise from his manager Arsène Wenger and team-mate Gilberto.

The 19-year-old has been a key performer in Arsenal's midfield for nearly three years now, despite his tender years, and after another great performance at the weekend against Bolton, Wenger says he has never seen a player like him at his age.

"He is an outstanding player. When you see how much he worked and tried today, it is just unbelievable," the boss said. "Today was his 45th game of the season and that, for someone is not yet 20, is fantastic.

"He is box to box until the last minute and I have never seen anyone quite like him at that age. We need to let him mature at his pace but he is intelligent and he wants to be strong.

Fabregas' weakness, by his own admission, has been his goalscoring this season, with his winner against Bolton only his third strike of the season, and his first in the league, but Wenger has backed Cesc to improve on that as time goes on.

"If you look at the number of chances Cesc has had during the season, I was always convinced he would be worth 10 goals a season and the same goes for Tomas Rosicky. That is what you need for a complete season.

"Cesc is young - 19 years of age - and he also does a lot of work defensively. It is not always easy at such a young age to have the strength and the power to get into forward positions. But he was very strong [on Saturday]."

Meanwhile, his midfield partner Gilberto believes the Spaniard could become an all-time great in his position, and will do his best to guide him that way.

"Cesc can be one of the best in his position. It is just down to him to continue the way he is playing and try to learn more," said the Brazilian.

"Sometimes you need to play more with your brain than with your power, to read the game all of the time.

"But if he can learn that, quickly, then he can be one of the best."

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