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Sean & Seng
Declan Rice has gone to Legoland. We did have plans to speak, but the 27-year-old Arsenal and England midfielder has decided to use this rare, sunny afternoon off from footballing duties to take his three-year-old son to the Windsor amusement park.
And who, frankly, can blame him (apart from maybe this journalist on a deadline)? This season alone, the Kingston-upon-Thames native will play upwards of 50 games (indeed, his work ethic and boundless energy, and ability to “run all day”, has earned him the nickname “the horse” from his teammates). At the time of writing, Arsenal, the north London club he signed to for a record-breaking fee of £105 million in 2023 – making him the second most expensive British footballer in history – is at the nail-biting make-or-break stage of its bid for Premier League title glory: if they can finish top of the league, it will be the first time in 22 years that the Gunners have lifted that coveted trophy. With the semifinal of the Champions League looming, who can begrudge him these few precious hours on the Minifigure Speedway, away from the pitch and his professional responsibilities?
And then, of course, there is the not-so-small matter of the 2026 World Cup. This June, the England boys will step aboard their private jet and carry the nation’s hopes and dreams to North America to see if – 60 long years after England’s last triumph – they can finally, finally bring football home again. Since he last played for his country at a major tournament – the Euros in 2024, in which England suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Spain in the final – Rice’s power has soared on the pitch and off: football fans praise his perseverance and aerial ability, the rest of us his floppy hair, cheeky grin and the cut of his Burberry suit.
The next morning he’s back at it and schedules a call for 7.30am on his way to training. He apologises for the early start, but being time-poor is the reality of life for the modern-day elite footballer: long days of both physical and mental prep; treatments and tactical meetings; hotels and near-constant travel. “I think people think football is just rock up to training for an hour and then go home,” he says, the accent textbook estuary. “Compared to even 15, 20 years ago, the level of detail and analysis now is crazy.”
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Wool trouser suit with leather detail and cotton shirt, Burberry. Tie, stylist’s ownSean & Seng
Not that he’s complaining. A football fanatic since he was a child – he signed to Chelsea’s academy at seven years old and spent almost a decade at West Ham United, where he was captain by 20, leading the club to their first trophy win in 43 years – he still has the air of someone who can’t quite believe they get to do this for a (very, very decent) living.
“Declan’s your ultimate leader,” says presenter and former Arsenal Women’s player Alex Scott. “People respond to him. People listen to him. In any situation, he will have your back. He’s one of those teammates. And I think the other side, which I really love, is he’s full of personality – you need that in a changing room. You need someone to pick you up in those moments. You need someone who makes you laugh when maybe you’re in your head.”
Stars of the game (Bergkamp, Gerrard, Carragher) frequently name Rice as one of, if not the, best midfielder in the world, but he’s also known for his affable nature and sense of humour. A wide, infectious grin seems always to be threatening to break across his face. He is a renowned dressing-room prankster and if an opportunity presents itself to show off his rapping skills well, then, evidence would suggest he’s likely to take it. As one particular meme put it: “Declan Rice is the vibe controller.” Would he agree? He laughs. “We’re so young and energetic that everyone [in the team] naturally jumps together,” he demurs, “so I wouldn’t say it’s just me, but yeah, people see I’m a fun guy.”
A week earlier, we meet at Beaverbrook, the bucolic 19th-century English country house hotel set in the Surrey Hills, a short car ride from his home, and which is today serving as the location for Rice’s Vogue shoot. He’s been held back at training for treatment and eventually arrives in a blacked-out Mercedes-Benz. But he’s full of energy when he arrives, bouncing into the large and lavish room – all plush sofas and soft carpets – that Vogue’s production team has commandeered, his 6ft 1in frame dressed in a stripy polo from Aimé Leon Dore, faded denim shorts that hit at the knee and spotless white trainers. “All right, you good?” he asks the assembled team, a mixture of boyish charm and seasoned businessman, efficiently working the room, shaking hands and bending down to ruffle the photographers’ poodle (Raffa, Rice’s copper-coloured cockapoo, sadly isn’t in tow today). A member of his compact three-person entourage, including his brother and co-manager Connor, puts “Raindance” by Dave and Tems on the portable speaker – and then swaps it for Madonna’s “Vogue”. From his position in front of the lens, Rice starts laughing.
If his life necessitates he spend the majority of his time in a tracksuit, Rice isn’t fazed by the rails of clothes: Prada, Tom Ford, leather jeans by Versace… He’s game. Since he was “16 or 17”, and “could start earning money from football”, he’s been interested in fashion. “I actually don’t remember the first thing I bought,” he says, smiling. “I remember just wasting a load of money wearing clothes that I thought were nice at the time. I didn’t know when to stop. That was the only problem.” (His co-manager and longtime friend Alex Wilde, on set today, chuckles as he confirms their never-ending shopping habits are “absolutely horrific”.)
Recently that interest has blossomed into something bigger: there have been appearances both on the runway (he walked in Labrum’s s/s ’25 show at the Emirates Stadium) and on the front row (see: Burberry). “There’s a unique relationship between football and fashion in British culture,” says Burberry creative director Daniel Lee, who describes Rice as a friend of the house. “Declan feels representative of that in a very modern way. He is one of the best players of his generation, with a great sense of personal style.”
Labrum creative director (and lifelong Arsenal fan) Foday Dumbuya sent Rice walking out onto the pitch turned runway in a suit from his Designed By Immigrants collection. “He understands the whole idea about culture colliding,” Dumbuya says. “I believe that if people understand and appreciate each other’s culture the world would be in harmony. And I think, to be honest, that was a sell to him.” Rice describes his modelling turn for Labrum as “eye-opening”. “There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it, but once you start walking,” he says, grinning, “it actually feels really good. I really enjoyed it.”
Nobody understands better than Rice that the extracurricular opportunities he is presented with – such as being an ambassador for L’Oreal Paris (this is definitely a man who is au fait with “moisturiser, face cream, face serums”) – are dependent on his performance on the pitch, that football has to come first. Right now, that means focusing on Arsenal. “You don’t really think too much about the future,” he says. “You just take it day by day. There’s still so much on the line.”
And so, he hasn’t yet turned his full attention to his impending trip next month for England’s first World Cup game, against Croatia in Arlington, Texas, where he is expected to be one of the star players of new manager Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. Luckily, in spite of the fact they may only play on the same side for a matter of days a year, this England team – Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden – is an especially tight-knit gang. Rice puts it down to the fact they’re all a similar age and have the same interests. “Whether it’s through social media or in real life, you can see that there’s a real connection between us,” he says. “You obviously hear about the older generation talking about how they didn’t get on and how they couldn’t connect and play together. But I think with us, that’s why, over the last few years with England, we’ve done so well, because we’re close on and off the pitch.”
It does appear that those days of intense inter-team rivalry – among the players, at least – are a thing of the past. Look at Rice’s Instagram page and Everton’s Jack Grealish is the first to leave a heart emoji under Rice celebrating goals he’s scored for Arsenal. “Grealo’s one of my best mates in football,” Rice says. “We obviously all play against each other, but football’s not like that any more. A lot of people have best friends from opposite teams, spend a lot of time with players from opposite teams. With England, we all get on. We always look forward to seeing each other. It’s a nice getaway.”
The biggest challenge they face? “Dealing with everything that comes with being an England player,” he says flatly, by which he means the scrutiny, the comments, “the noise”. “It’s going to be the most-watched football event of the last four years. One minute you’re going to be hated, one minute you’re going to be loved. It always changes in football. You’ve just got to take it with a pinch of salt.”
He is all too aware that anything he says will be seized upon with ferocity, especially if fortunes begin to go south. The defeat that follows our afternoon at Beaverbrook means I can hear on our call how that day’s smiley demeanour has curdled to a darker, steelier determination. (Days before going to press, after losing to rival Manchester City, I watch a video of an impassioned Rice shouting “It’s not done” to Arsenal teammate Martin Ødegaard.)
Although, for his part, Rice has become good at blocking it all out. “Don’t look at it and don’t even think about it,” is his tactic. “People have always had stuff to say about my career: if I’m good enough, whether I score goals, whether I’m consistent enough, whether I’m ready for a big move to a big club… There’s so many opinions, the only ones that matter are the ones close to you.”
Since joining Arsenal, his fame has rocketed. He is aware there are “eyes on you all the time”. “It’s not impossible” to go out, he says, but “you get stopped a lot, so you have to pick and choose.” (At the end of his shoot, curious hotel guests, who have twigged who the tall man posing for photos is, wait patiently for selfies. Rice graciously accommodates.)
Being in the spotlight can be excruciating, not just for Rice, but for those closest to him. The highly disturbing – vile, in fact – trolling of his girlfriend, Lauren Fryer, whom he met when they were just 17-year-old school kids, is depressing proof of how unevolved many “fans” still are and how – even though we can sometimes be led to believe otherwise – the toxic, misogynistic culture around the sport persists.
Privacy, then, is understandably paramount. Like many top-tier footballers, the people Rice surrounds himself with are the friends who have known him forever, and family. Rice is the youngest of three boys – Connor, the eldest, lives nearby. In fact, the Rice boys have barely flown the nest: they’re not far from the Dickerage youth club where Declan, at least, spent four or five nights a week playing football (it’s also where their parents, to whom he is extremely close, first met – his dad is his agent). He still knows “everyone who runs it. It’s amazing there, it’s one of my favourite places.” In 2024, he helped provide a new pitch for the future generation of players.
Being a role model is important to him. “I think kids are now watching players like me and the England squad, seeing how we are, how we interact with fans, how we are with kids.” He lights up speaking about his young teenage cousin, Nancy Jordan, who’s playing for the London City Lionesses U14s. “She’s amazing,” he says, smiling. “She’s really good, really hungry. Since she was a kid, she just fell in love with football. She’s got a really bright future ahead of her.”
As, of course, is his. “I’m still early in my career,” Rice says, that combination of easy smiles and total steeliness returning. “There’s still so much I can achieve.” For now, the Arsenal dream is still alive and – who knows? – this could be the year we welcome home some world champions. For Rice, there’s only one thing he’s ruling out: a rap album. “No chance.”
Cover look: Wool blazer, Ami Paris. Cotton/silk shirt, Lemaire. Cotton vest, Tom Ford. Wool trousers, Ferragamo. Leather belt, Mulberry. Leather shoes, Church’s. Chain, Declan’s own. Grooming: Liz Taw. Tailor: Della George. Production: Amelia Studios. With thanks to Beaverbrook, Surrey.