Arsenal star Bacary Sagna says his trademark locks were the ‘reward’ for winning a bet with his demanding father, Bassirou.

“Ah, the hair,” the Frenchman told Champions Magazine, who produced the feature on behalf of Goal.com.

“I was 17 or 18 and playing in the fourth team against the seniors. They were 25 to 30 years of age, and we were teenagers, a young team like Arsenal.

“But we were playing better than them because we played as a team; we used to do everything together. The bet was I had to score two goals to change my hairstyle.

“That’s my father – not one, two! Afterwards, I called him and told him I’d done it. He didn’t believe me, but I did it and I remember thinking, ‘Now, I can do what I want.’”

While Sagna no longer remembers why he selected his attention-grabbing style, he is amused by the idea that the bouncing braids might be enough to stop an opponent in his tracks.

“It can happen, no? They have to be careful, stay away from me,” he chuckled.

There is another warning when it comes to his team. Sagna agrees with Arsene Wenger in that Arsenal are close to achieving something special, to making the beauty of their passing game into a weapon consistently lethal enough to win silverware.

“Of course we can do it [win trophies],” the French full-back said. “Last year I don’t know what we missed, but it was nothing.

“At the beginning of last season we were sleeping. I don’t know why… maybe we were still on holiday.

“But when we started playing our own game, when we realised, we played better football.”