Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori has the perfect response after refusing to give autograph

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Riccardo Calafiori was videoed refusing to give his autograph after Arsenal defender was presented with an image too superstitious for him to recognise

Arsenal are strong favourites to win the Premier League title this season, having opened a nine-point gap to Manchester City with seven games left to play. Their rivals have a game in hand and host the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in April.

However, Opta are giving Arsenal more than a 97% probability of lifting the trophy come May. That can, of course, change and the defeat in the Carabao Cup final has only intensified the nerves.

Asked after the final if there was a fear his team could now “spiral” with the pain of defeat, Arteta was bullish in his response. The Spaniard pointed to how his team had recovered from other setbacks this season.

“We played 50 games, I think, today,” he said. “So every time you have a defeat or a draw, if that's the consequence, then you're not prepared to play 70 games because it's something that will happen at some point.

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“So, we haven't allowed that to happen; we have to prove it, we have to do it again. The good thing is that we have a very recent history of how this team has reacted in those moments, and I'm sure that we're going to do it again.”

It is clear that his players are equally as motivated, but perhaps also rather superstitious, as demonstrated by Riccardo Calafiori. The Italian was videoed during the international break refusing to sign something for a supporter.

The video shows the person holding what looks to be a gold image of a Premier League trophy, and when the Arsenal left-back realises what the image is, he pulls away.

“No, this one no,” he said when realising what the image was. “We didn’t win yet.”

The person holding the picture protests and begs with the Arsenal man to sign it anyway.

“No, no, I’m superstitious,” Calafiori replied. The individual wanting the autograph misunderstood the Italian, thinking he’d said ‘Suspicious,’ to which Calafiori corrected him, “Superstitious.”

Clearly, the Arsenal players, even in their downtime, are not taking anything for granted. They want to get the job done before making any form of commitment.