Moments after Gabriel Martinelli had stunned Stamford Bridge with his majestic solo goal in January, Francis Cagigao's phone started pinging. First once, then again, then a flurry of messages, WhatsApp messages and texts flying his way, all in response to one tweet by a former Arsenal player.
"Francis Cagigao strikes again," wrote former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas after Martinelli had left N'Golo Kante flat-footed on his way to a goal of the season contender.
"And Francis Cagigao strikes again and again," was Fabregas' second tweet after Hector Bellerin had earned the 10 men of Arsenal a draw at Stamford Bridge. "Legend."
For Cagigao, a man who spent 24 years in north London largely operating in the shadow and avoiding any great publicity, there was only one possible response.
"I just remember being embarrassed as the phone and the WhatsApps started going," Arsenal's former head of international recruitment tells CBS Sports. "I appreciate Cesc and I've got a very, very good relationship and a strong bond with him.
"But yeah, at the time, I felt a little bit of awkwardness. You know, when that happened, I didn't expect it at all."
Perhaps he should have seen it coming. After all there is widespread admiration for Cagigao's two decades-plus of work at Arsenal, which came to an end in September after technical director Edu Gaspar restructured the club's recruitment department and released many of its top talent spotters.
Even after his departure, Cagigao's influence was felt in the signings of Gabriel Magalhaes and Thomas Partey, both understood to be top targets identified by the international recruitment department he led. He played an integral role in overhauling the database that the club will use over the coming years.
Before then, he had run the rule over generations of top Arsenal talent, from Bellerin and Martinelli to Lauren, Jose Antonio Reyes, Santi Cazorla and Emiliano Martinez.
"To be paid to sit on the fence, every time you see a player, it's not going to work for the football club."
Francis Cagigao
The story of Cagigao finding Fabregas is well known and the scout himself would acknowledge that he did not "discover" one of the star players in a youth team that included Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique.
Fabregas' enduring respect for Cagigao does not stem from the scouting work that brought him to Arsenal in 2003 but what happened next.
"If you've been the person that's sold the idea of the club well -- obviously along with people, like Arsene Wenger and Steve Rowley at the time, who did a great, great job at the club in his time as chief scout -- I think you build this bond," Cagigao says. "Number one, you want to help them.
"I think the first year, that help was constant, whether it be text messages to say that you're playing against this type of player, it's that type of player...
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