Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas celebrates his 30th birthday today, so everyone here at Shoot! would like to wish the Spaniard many happy returns!

Fabregas came up through the ranks at Barcelona but it was at Arsenal where he made his breakthrough in 2004, going to appear 303 times for Arsene Wenger’s side over an eight-year stay in North London.

The midfielder only managed an FA Cup title though during his time with the Gunners, and subsequently rejoined boyhood club Barca in 2011 for £35 million.

And in his three-year stint at the Nou Camp, Fabregas won the La Liga title in 2013 as well as various other domestic and international trophies, and went on to appear over 150 times before returning to the Premier League with Chelsea in the summer of 2014.

Fabregas has since played 125 times for the Blues and helped them win the Premier League under Jose Mourinho in 2015, as well as the League Cup in the same year.

So, with the Spain international celebrating his 30th birthday, we at Shoot! thought we’d bring you FIVE things you probably didn’t know about the midfield ace…

Attended first Barcelona match aged nine months

Fabregas is a huge Barcelona fan and was a prominent part of their youth academy, yet his affiliation with the club goes back even further than that.

The 30-year-old attended his first Barca match when he was just nine months old with his grandfather.

Youngest Spanish international for 70 years

Fabregas hugely impressed with the Spain Under-17s at the 2003 U17 World Cup and 2004 U17 Euro’s, and it didn’t take long for him to earn recognition from the senior set up.

In fact, the midfielder made his debut in a 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast in a friendly back in March 2006, and in doing so became the youngest ever player to be capped at senior level by Spain aged 18 years and 301 days, beating the previous record held by now-Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.

He has since gone on to make 110 appearances for his country, netting 15 times along the way.

Nike Live

Back in May 2008, Fabregas starred in his own TV programme named ‘The Cesc Fabregas Show: Nike Live’.

The programme celebrated the 30-year-old’s career up to that point, and included the likes of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and Fabregas’ parents.

It included some of Fabregas’ greatest goals and moments on the pitch, as well as comments from the midfielder about his life.

Lucky number four

Fabregas revealed earlier this year that the number four is ‘very special’ in his life.

The Spaniard wore that number at both Arsenal and Barcelona, and is of course the current number four at Premier League leaders Chelsea.

And it’s a number that has been a part of his life for a while.

He said: ‘Number four is very special in my life and I’ve always been around it for some reason.

‘I used to live in the house number four, I was born on the fourth, when I was a child in school the F was number four, I don’t know why.

‘And when I go out on the pitch to warm up, I am fourth, if somebody goes out in front of me I pull them back because the fourth player is me.

‘And fourth player going out on the pitch for a game has to be me. It’s always something related to my life.’

All time highest assist maker for Spain

Back in October 2015, Fabregas broke the record for the most assists ever produced by a Spaniard in the national team, with he registering his 28th in a 4-0 success over Luxembourg.

The 30-year-old pipped Barcelona legend Xavi to top spot with his contribution that day, and has since added a few more assists to extend his lead at the summit.