Bacary Sagna has admitted that he was "surprised" to hear Cesc Fabregas criticise his former Arsenal teammates by claiming that only Robin van Persie and Samir Nasri were on his level.

Sagna and Fabregas played together for the Gunners between 2007 and 2011, during which time Arsene Wenger's side failed to win a single piece of silverware, coming closest when finishing as runners-up in the League Cup.

Fabregas recently admitted that he felt as though he was carrying the team at times during his stay there and suggested that Van Persie and Nasri were the only other players with similar quality to his own, and Sagna believes that the Spaniard's assessment is "harsh".

"I was surprised to read this. From him I was surprised because he was supposed to be one of the leaders of the team, he was one of the great prospects and as a leader and a true player, you don't speak like that about your club. So I was surprised because he is a nice guy, he's still a nice guy, this doesn't change anything. But I was kind of surprised," Sagna told Goal.

"Arsenal made him so saying that some players were not at his level was a bit harsh because I'm not sure out of all the seasons he was playing at the club, he was always an exemplary player. At that time the press was talking about him not running enough or tracking back. So other players could have said 'you should be running more or doing more'.

"I don't agree with that statement. It's his opinion and he's right to have an opinion, but we all have good moments and bad moments in our career and I'm not sure he always had great moments with Arsenal. Yes, he is a great player, he has amazing quality, but maybe some people were expecting more from him."

Sagna made 284 appearances for Arsenal in total before leaving for Manchester City in 2014.