Chelsea star Cesc Fabregas has revealed he is a "big fan" of Arsenal record signing Mesut Ozil, even though the Germany international prevented him from returning to the Emirates Stadium last summer.

Once the 27-year-old decided to leave Barcelona at the end of last season, he was linked with a move back to north London as the Gunners had the chance to activate a buy-back clause in his contract.

However, as Fabregas revealed earlier in the season, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger passed up the chance because he already had Ozil for the playmaker role and the boss believed there were no room for both stars in his line-up.

When asked during an interview with Spanish radio station Onda Cero about that, Fabregas said: "Ozil was there and I respect [Wenger's decision] a lot.

"I have always liked Ozil. I am a big fan of Ozil."

After a conversation with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, Fabregas opted to join the Blues to play in west London.

Some Arsenal supporters have since criticised his decision, while during the London derby that took place earlier in the season, Fabregas even appeared to have rifts with his old friend Jack Wilshere.

But the Spaniard has claimed he does not consider himself a traitor and he played down the Wilshere incident.

"Some day you will know the whole truth... I am not a traitor," he said.

"I remembered that incident with Wilshere. He trained with us since he was 16 and he has always respected me a lot because we play in the same position. When I was at Arsenal, there were already talks about him becoming the next Arsenal big thing,

"We have always had a really good relationship but he had an incident with Terry and he was a little bit angry. I just said to him to take it easy but he hadn't had a problem with me."