Declan Rice believes Arsenal would have been ‘in a bit of trouble’ without Gabriel Magalhaes this season.
The Gunners missed out on the Premier League title on the final day of the season despite a 2-1 win over Everton.
A large part of Arsenal’s title challenge was built on a solid defensive partnership between Gabriel and William Saliba, who together helped the team keep 16 clean sheets in the league this season.
And Rice believes Gabriel should be getting just as much credit as Saliba for Arsenal’s defensive resilience.
"Do you know what, obviously there was a lot of talk about Saliba before I came here,’ Rice told Stadium Astro. "There was always talk about Saliba, no one ever really spoke about Gabriel.
"Honestly, that guy, without him as well we’d be in a bit of trouble. Them two together have built up that partnership, 16 clean sheets.
"It’s just such a good partnership, for me to play in front of them as well, we have a great understanding, we train on it every day, we’re all still really young and I feel we’re going to keep getting better as well."
