• 'Celebrate third and I will focus on winning titles,' fans told • 'I hope they are watching me now, collecting my medal'

Instead of quietly letting the achievement of a first Premier League winner's medal with Manchester City soak in, Samir Nasri has been unable to resist firing a broadside at his Arsenal critics, telling them to "celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles".

The French midfielder was accused by many Arsenal fans of leaving for the money last summer, when he swapped the Emirates for the Etihad in a £24m deal which doubled his wages to around £170,000 a week.

Now, following City's first league title in 44 years, Nasri has rounded on those critics – and even his former team-mates – accusing them of settling for second best after a seventh successive season without silverware.

"People at Arsenal tried to make out that I came here for the money," Nasri told the French television channel TF1. "I hope they are watching me now, collecting my Premier League winner's medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.

"I made the hard choice to come and fight for my place at a big club, and I have proved it correct. I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me.

"If all that I was interested in was money, the easiest decision would have been to stay at Arsenal, picking up my money every week and walking into the team. There are many people doing this right now at Arsenal."

Despite a strong start and finish to the season with City, Nasri has struggled to live up to his substantial transfer fee, and he was in and out of the side for much of the campaign. He made 26 league starts and scored five goals.