Declan Rice has settled superbly at Arsenal since his summer move from West Ham, and is already a vocal leader within the dressing room.

The midfielder has become an instant hit, consistently delivering outstanding performances in midfield, and his transition into Mikel Arteta’s system was a seamless one.

Things have gone smoothly for Rice off the pitch as well. He is already a fan favourite, and he has gelled well with his teammates.

Rice already knew Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo Saka, Aaron Ramsdale and Ben White from the England setup, but has now named several other players as his closest friends within the squad.

Declan Rice names closest friends within Arsenal squad

Speaking to Arsenal club media, Rice revealed that defenders Gabriel Magalhaes and Oleksandr Zinchenko, as well as attacker Gabriel Jesus, were some of his closest friends among his teammates

“To be fair, I’ve formed a lot of really good relationships here. There’s a lot of different cultures and I’m really close with Gabriel Magalhaes – we get on so, so well. Alex Zinchenko, Gabriel Jesus and Aaron Ramsdale too,” he stated.

“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.

“They’ve taught me so much. Take me and Gabriel for example. 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.”

Fans were worried after Arsenal’s defeat to Fulham last month, as a verbal disagreement between Rice and Gabriel on the pitch was highlighted.

However, it appears that the two are incredibly close, and anything said during the game was standard procedure during the fiery nature of Premier League games.

Given that Rice and Nketiah came through at the same academy during their teenage years, and that the midfielder has played alongside Saka at a World Cup, it is encouraging to see that the whole squad appears to be bonding well beyond National Team allegiances.

Arsenal’s dressing room appears to be fully united, with everyone in the squad integrating well with each other. In years gone by, cliques or groups formed and led to division within the squad, but it is clear that Arteta has done a fantastic job at fostering a healthy environment in the team.