West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta has appealed to his team mates to stay at the club this summer and build for the future.
The 34-year-old has played 25 times for the Hammers this season, grabbing one assist and helping them safely avoid the drop.
However, he insists that that West Ham have so much potential to aim higher.
Zabaleta, speaking to The Offside Rule podcast, discussed the influx of star players coming to West Ham and hinted that the building blocks are in place to spring up to the next level.
“We are a club which is looking to grow and learn from the past,” said Zabaleta.
“Let’s be honest, the Premier League with it’s TV money to spend big and attract players from top clubs, makes it much harder and competitive outside the top six.
“Outside that, you can see anybody can beat any team.
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“If our top players get a big move, then I’ll be happy for them, but I want West Ham to keep hold of our star players [Rice, Diop, Arnautovic] and stay to build something.”
The Argentine admits its unrealistic for his team right now to challenge for silverware every year but the key for him is believing they can in the future - if the squad focus on improving their mentality.
“I’m not saying we’ll win trophies every season, but we need to have the ambition to fight for the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, those competitions," he said.
“When you look at the last few seasons in the FA Cup its been poor, we lost to Wigan last year, lost to Wimbledon this year - for a club like us we need to compete with the right mentality in these games.
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“We need the players to bring consistency and this is the best way to improve.”
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