Cesc Fabregas
Cesc Fabregas was signed by Arsenal after starring at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2003. [Reuters]

Arsenal have once again snapped up a player from the prestigious Barcelona academy La Masia, this time swooping to sign 15-year-old midfielder Georgios Spanoudakis.

Barcelona signed Spanoudakis in 2009 from Eintracht Frankfurt and he has since garnered a reputation as one of the gems of La Masia thanks to his special passing ability - he is said to model his game on both Andres Iniesta and Mesut Ozil.

Born in Greece but with a German passport, he has been capped twice by Germany at Under-15 and Under-16 level and is also eligible to play for Greece.

Arsene Wenger has been monitoring his situation for a while and even though he had a number of offers from other big clubs, the Daily Mail reports he has already agreed to join the Gunners, and will play in the Under-18 squad the coming season.

Daily Mail claims that Spanoudakis is the seventh signing of Arsenal's youth team following Kristopher Da Graca, Ben Sheaf, Elias Hatzitheodoridis, Hugo Keto, Jonatas Centeno and Savvas Mourgos.

The starlet follows in the footsteps of other youngsters who moved from the Catalan giants' academy to the Emirates Stadium.

Cesc Fabregas has been the most famous case in recent years, after catching the eye of Gunners' scouts during the 2003 Under-17 World Cup, where he was top scorer and voted the most valuable player of the tournament.

In the last few years Ignasi Miquel, Jon Toral, Hector Bellerin and Julio Pleguezuelo have also made the same journey, and are still considered important players for Arsenal's future.

However Fran Merida, signed in 2005, failed to break into Wenger's first team and is currently playing in Brazil following a number of failed spells in La Liga.