Although not a 'forward' per se, Arsenal's new number eight Mikel Arteta is this week's pick for Forward Friday.

The departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively left a creative void in Arsenal's midfield. A £10m transfer deadline day signing from Everton, Icon signee Arteta is the man charged with sparking the Gunner's back to life, and filling the sizeable boots left by his Catalan compatriot.

The 29-year-old, from the Basque city of San Sebastián in Spain, made over 200 appearances for Everton over the course of seven seasons. Few Premier League players have matched the consistency of the stylish Spanish playmaker, and he arrives at Arsenal with the pedigree and experience to help the Gunners put a turbulent summer and nightmare start to the season behind them.

Like Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso, Arteta came through the respected Antiguoko youth academy in the Basque Country. While his close friend Alonso would eventually sign his first professional contract with Real Sociedad, a 15-year-old Arteta was snapped up by Barcelona.

He was a regular for Barcelona B, but was unable to make the step up to the first team due to fierce competition for places, and in 2000 he was sent for the first of two seasons on loan at French side Paris Saint-Germain. Arteta's performances in a deep-lying central midfield role behind a young Ronaldinho in the 2001/02 season provoked interest from a host of clubs around Europe, and in 2002 he signed for Walter Smith's Rangers for a fee of £5.8m.

In his first season in Glasgow, Arteta helped Rangers to a domestic treble of the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and League Cup, and was named their young player of the year. A regular for the Spanish under-21 side, he seemed destined to break his way into the senior Spain side. His second season with Rangers was blighted by injury, however, and in 2004 he made a return to La Liga with Real Sociedad, where he hoped to be reunited with old friend Xabi Alonso. Alonso left the club for Liverpool, however, and after a disappointing season with Sociedad, Arteta jumped at the chance to follow him to Merseyside with David Moyes' Everton.

Arteta moved in next to Alonso in January 2005, initially joining Everton on loan. In July, however, he completed a permanent £2m transfer and signed a five-year deal. It didn't take him long to acclimatize to life at Everton, and in his first half season he featured regularly as Everton ensured Champions League qualification with an excellent fourth-placed finish.

Between 2005 and 2007 Arteta was among the Premier League's standout performers, winning Everton's Player of the Season award in consecutive seasons. Moyes' decision to push Arteta further forward to the right-side of midfield had proved an inspired one. With an excellent eye for a pass and formidable set-piece delivery, he was the Toffees' creative hub, contributing goals and assists in equal measure. His intelligent and technical approach is perfectly suited to the Gunners' style of play, and Arsenal fans are rightly optimistic about the impact he can have in North London.

Spain's midfield options are so outstanding and varied that despite his obvious guile and talent, Arteta has yet to win a call-up to the national side. With the opportunity to showcase his ability at Champions League level with Arsenal, however, that could be about to change.

We at Icons conducted our latest signing with Mikel on 11th September 2008:

If all goes to plan for the Spanish maestro, we will be quick to arrange another signing session with him, this time in red and white.

In the fourth of our series of Icons Legends, we turn our attention to the man at the centre of the transfer saga of the summer - Arsenal captain and Spain international Cesc Fabregas.

Of all the signings we have conducted here at Icons.com over the years, the friendly and humble 24-year-old remains one of our favourites.

Since he was plucked from Barcelona's youth academy at the age of 16, Fabregas has established himself as the Gunners' heartbeat, and blossomed into of the most gifted midfielders in world football.

But after six trophyless seasons in North London the Catalan-born maestro could be forgiven for having his head turned by his boyhood club. Arsenal - reluctant to let go of their prized possession - are holding out for a bid of £40m, while the all-conquering Barcelona are doing their best to lower that price. With negotiations between the clubs seemingly ongoing, it will all come to a head in the coming weeks.

Fabregas arrived at Arsenal in September 2003, and a month later became the club's youngest ever goal-scorer when he netted in a League Cup tie against Rotherham at 16 years and 177 days.

The following season Fabregas signed his first professional deal with the club and was thrust into the shoes of the injured Arsenal skipper Patrick Vieira. With a calmness on the ball that defied his years, exquisite technique and passing ability, Fabregas made waves in the footballing world.

He became Arsenal's youngest league goal-scorer when he struck against Blackburn Rovers, and followed that up with a goal in a 5-1 victory over Norwegian side Rosenborg which made him the second youngest goal-scorer in Champions League history.

When Patrick Vieira departed for Juventus in 2005, Fabregas was handed the iconic number 4 shirt as Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger elected to put his faith in this exceptional young talent. He did not dissapoint.

His consistently impressive performances did not go unnoticed by Spain coach Luis Aragones either, and when he made his international debut in a friendly against the Ivory Coast in 2006, he became the youngest player to appear for the national team in 70 years. Fabregas has since been ever-present for the current European and World Champions, and it was his pass in extra-time of the 2010 World Cup final against the Netherlands that released Andres Iniesta to score the winning goal.

Arsenal have been unable to claim any silverware since their FA Cup victory in 2005, but the contribution and consistency of Fabregas, captain since 2008, has been remarkable in terms of goals and assists.

Arsenal struggled in his absence due to injury last season, and if Barcelona get their way, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will face the almost impossible task of replacing a player who has come to embody his side.

We at Icons.com will be certain to meet with Cesc for another signing session soon. Whether it be in North London or Catalonia, however, remains to be seen.

Not only is it a great time to be a fan of Spanish football, it's also bloody hard not to be. Having spent the best part of fifty years as perennial bottlers, the national side have established themselves as the best in the world, patenting their thrilling, incomparable brand of tiki-taka, to the delight of all and sundry.

The emergence of La Furia Roja has coincided with the dominance of Barcelona, who many commentators have described as the "greatest team ever." So taken with what they've seen emanating from the Iberian Peninsula, the English media have demanded that the FA do everything in their power to emulate what the Spanish have done at a grassroots level, but whether we'll ever see Englishman grace a field with such elegance is questionable. 

We at Icons have championed the Spanish game and the finest purveyors of it for many years. Given the current zeitgeist for Spanish memorabilia, we thought there would be no better way to kick off The Great Icons Summer Sale by slashing prices on some of our favourite pieces from some of our favourite Spanish or Spanish based players.

There can be little doubting the fact that La Liga plays host to the best players in the world. For the past four seasons, the top three players of the FIFA World Player of the Year either ply or have plied their trade in the Spanish top flight. Last year, the top three were all based in La Liga, a statistic reflected in the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or results. 

We're delighted to present discounted goods from many of those featured. We've got some beautiful, signed action photos of 2008's World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo (many going at half price) playing for Real Madrid.

From last year's Ballon D'Or runner up, Andres Iniesta, we've got a signed picture of his thrilling last minute winner for Barcelona against Chelsea in the Champions League a few years back (again, 50% off).

From the 2007 World Player of the Year Kaká, we have a fantastic signed and numbered Real Madrid shirt and signed boots. Alongside Kaká, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero has also established himself as one of the best foreign imports to La Liga and we've got a range of his shirts and goodies to give away at a big discount. 

But the Spanish revolution of the past five years isn't just about individual awards. Lest we forget, this is one of the only sides in history to win successive major international tournaments.

To mark their dominance, we've assembled a range of cut-price merchandise from some of the stars of their all-conquering squad, including a Real Madrid shirt signed by Iker Casillas, an amazing signed photo of Cesc Fabregas lifting the World Cup, signed photos of Xabi Alonso and Pepe Reina in their pomp for both Spain and Liverpool and their erstwhile Merseyside teammate Fernando Torres, also in his Liverpool heyday. 

We'll be running the sale for a number of weeks, with a new theme every seven days. If you fancy yourself as a bit of a Spainophile, then, this is your chance to pick up some great stuff at a fraction of the retail price. 

You know that at Icons we only work with the true superstars of the game.  On Thursday we met up with Icons favourite Cesc Fabregas in London to carry out our first signing with Cesc since last year.  Since our last signing, Cesc has been made the Arsenal captain, reached another Champions League semi-final and has represented Spain in the Confederations Cup.  An Iconic year by anyone's standards...

We were joined at this signing by our old friends from Sky.  Make sure you tune in to Revista de la Liga to keep up to date on all the goings on in Spain, and for the chance to win exclusive Icons memorabilia.  At Icons we're hoping the lure of a return to Spain doesn't prove too strong for Cesc!