Nolan opens up on Rice future and hails West Ham star as 'closest thing to Gerrard'

The 24-year-old is set to leave the Hammers this summer after almost a decade at the east London side.

Club chairman David Sullivan confirmed to talkSPORT the England international has played his final game in claret and blue.

Arsenal are willing to spend big to seal his signature in the summer transfer window, with Rice ready to make the next step in his career.

He has emerged as one of the country's most talented midfielders, and has now been compared to one of the greatest of all.

Nolan spoke to talkSPORT about Rice's prospects and compared his ability and style of play to none other than Steven Gerrard, as he admitted West Ham are likely to lose their captain.

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"Dec has given everything to the club and he's been absolutely phenomenal - he's been our best player for the last three seasons by a country mile," the Hammers first-team coach said on White and Jordan.

"I feel like everyone at the club sort of knows it's coming to an end, but do we want it to? Do I want it to? Not a chance, not in a million years.

"Knowing the kid, knowing his family and everybody around him, he loves West Ham, but hand on heart he's got to go and play in the Champions League week-in week-out.

"I don't want to lose him, I would never want to lose him because of the way he drives everything in training everyday - I would never say this lightly, but he is the closest thing I've seen to Steven Gerrard on a football pitch.

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"You [Danny Murphy] played with him [Gerrard], I didn't have the opportunity, but Dec's attributes, his key attributes and I feel that there's still loads to unravel.

"Now I'm not saying he is Gerrard, before the Liverpool fans start having it with me, but I'm just saying with the way he can just glide past players.

"The way one minute he's there, the next minute he's gone, the way he can play a defensive role, the way he can then go and move into an attacking role, and we haven't seen that attack mind of him yet."

Such a comparison is certainly one Rice can be proud of given Gerrard's superb performances for Liverpool.

The former Reds captain also won the Champions League, a trophy that Rice would surely love to get his hands on in the future.

With a move to Arsenal seemingly on the cards, he is set to elevate his game even further at one of English football's biggest clubs.