Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny still hopes Robin van Persie will stay.

But the Pole admits resigning himself to losing the club captain.

"It will be disappointing if he leaves because Robin is our captain and he's our leader," said Szczesny. "I'm very happy to have him at the club. He's still an Arsenal player and we support him all the way.

"At the beginning for pre-season last year everyone was saying it was doom and gloom with everyone leaving the club. No-one's left the club at the moment. We have new signings, we're stronger defensively and so we're in a better position.

"It was a bit different last year because we all knew Samir (Nasri) and Cesc (Fabregas) would be leaving but now we believe in the squad more. We're more confident that the players we have are good enough to play for this club and challenge for trophies."