West Ham United's Slaven Bilic has stressed the importance of retaining a strong local foundation within a club in this day and age.

The Croatian manager highlighted Manchester United's Jose Mourinho when he touched on how vital it is to have long-time club men heavily involved in the day-to-day management of a squad.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, former Hammers defender Bilic spoke of the need to have strong characters in the dressing room who always want to put the club first.

“When I came to West Ham, we had great players, Florin Raducioiu, Ilie Dumitrescu. But they weren't West Ham," said Bilic.

“West Ham was Steve Potts, Julian Dicks, Ian Bishop. Those were the guys you looked to in the dressing room. You've got to have it.

“Jose Mourinho goes to Manchester United. Everyone is wondering what he will do with Wayne Rooney — but who is the first guy he works into the team? Rooney.

“Everyone thinks Michael Carrick will leave. Has Carrick left? No.

“Mourinho had his English group at Chelsea, too. He knows John Terry is the guy who will be the manager on the field. The first guy to tell another player if he thinks something is wrong.

“We have that: Mark Noble, Andy Carroll, Aaron Cresswell, James Collins. I am not saying you have to be the loudest man, but it's good for a manager when you know you have a group who will drive the rest."