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The player discusses his love of golf and which teammate he plays with.
Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice has opened up about the “really good friendship” he has built with teammate Gabriel Magalhaes during his initial six months at the club.
Having made a £105 million switch from West Ham United in July, Rice became the most expensive British footballer in history and has swiftly acclimated to the Arsenal dressing room.
Rice counts Oleksandr Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus, and Aaron Ramsdale among his friends at the club, but he has developed a particularly close bond with Brazilian center-back Gabriel. The camaraderie between players can undoubtedly contribute to team dynamics both on and off the field.
“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.”
Rice continued by saying that, aside from playing football, golf is his favorite pastime, even though it’s difficult to find other club members to go golfing 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.”