Santi Cazorla says Arsenal's locker room are no longer missing Manchester United striker Robin van Persie.

Alex Song also left for Barcelona in the summer just as Cazorla was arriving.

Cazorla told the Mail on Sunday: "Well, I believe it was a number of things [that caused them to switch teams]: they had good offers and, in the end, they decided to change teams. I believe that things are positive at Arsenal, that we are capable of fighting with those teams. Of course, Arsenal haven't won anything for many years but I believe that Arsenal always show passion and are a team of winners.

"We want to challenge for the title, hopefully. The objective is to fight for it. It's clear there are lots of great teams, not just City - there are also Manchester United, Liverpool, despite the fact they haven't started so well, Tottenham, Chelsea. There are a lot of teams challenging, no? The objective is to win it and be there fighting right until the end, to have the chance of winning it."