Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has lifted the lid on the “really good friendship” he has developed with Gabriel Magalhaes during his first six months at the club.
Rice made the £105m switch from West Ham United in July, becoming the most expensive British footballer in history in the process, and has quickly found home in the Arsenal dressing room.
Listing Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Aaron Ramsdale among his friends, Rice is particular pals with Brazilian centre-back Gabriel.
“I’ve formed a lot of really good relationships here,” he told Arsenal.com. “There’s a lot of different cultures and I’m really close with Gabriel Maghalaes – we get on so, so well. We’re both completely different personalities from completely different backgrounds and we play football in a different way too, but we learn so much from each other and we’ve formed a really good friendship.
“I get on with everyone, I talk to everyone and it’s great to have a good relationship with so many different people in the team. I look around and I think these are the people that I want to win stuff with and have a long career with.”
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Rice went on to reveal that golf is his favourite hobby away from the football pitch, although there aren’t a lot of options if he’s looking for club mates to play a round with.
“We don’t have too many golfers here at Arsenal, but I’ve played a good amount with Rammers,” he explained. “I was able to play a little bit with Rory McIlroy last week in Dubai and that was great fun.
“I think golf is one of the most mentally challenging sports out there. Tennis too because it’s just you and you need to battle through your emotions, whereas in football you’ve got your teammates around you to lift you up or help you out. In tennis or golf the spotlight is entirely on you. No one else is there and it’s one of the toughest things to do, which is why I really respect and admire them.”
