Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek believes that he and his teammates will only benefit from greater competition for places this season.
The Red Devils struck early summer deals for Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen and Tyrell Malacia, with Erik ten Hag wasting no time in bolstering his squad.
Man United then experienced a lull in the transfer market, though, as their lengthy pursuit of Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong failed to bear fruit.
Despite missing out on his former Ajax protege, Ten Hag welcomed Casemiro to the club to bolster his midfield options before the late arrivals of Martin Dubravka and Antony.
The Red Devils also lost numerous players on free transfers, as Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and the retired Lee Grant ended their associations with the club alongside Andreas Pereira and James Garner.
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Eric Bailly, Dean Henderson, Alex Telles and Amad Diallo were among those to leave on loan, but Van de Beek has nevertheless been left impressed with the Red Devils' strength in depth.
"That will help everyone. Having lots of options will keep everyone sharp, and for this we need lots of good players," Van de Beek told the United Review when asked about the team's summer business.
"I think it's great to play many games. I love it when we play after a few days [another] game. I prefer more to have games than training sessions, so definitely I like it!
"I know them already, as a player. Some of the players I played against – I played against Christian, against Casemiro as well, with Ajax. Licha [Lisandro], I played together with him.
"So I know what they are capable of and they are really good players, so they will help us for sure. They are nice people, but they are also team players. I think this is important, to work hard together. As people, they fit very well with the players we have."
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Van de Beek earned his move to Man United in 2020 after bursting onto the scene under Ten Hag, but the Netherlands international is still struggling for starts in a Man United shirt.
Van de Beek has made three substitute appearances in the 2022-23 Premier League season - playing 19 minutes in total - and he has been sidelined with a knock for the past couple of weeks.
Nevertheless, the 25-year-old is optimistic that his fortunes will improve this season, adding: "I'm really working hard for it, so I'm positive. I'll do my best. The last part of last season, I was injured, so I missed a lot.
"I could feel that in the first few weeks of pre-season, but now I've started to feel better and better. So I'm really positive."
Van de Beek - who spent the second half of the 2021-22 season on loan at Everton - has scored two goals and set up two more in 53 outings for Man United since arriving two years ago.
The midfielder will hope to recover from his knock in time for Thursday's Europa League trip to Sheriff Tiraspol, with the Red Devils aiming to bounce back from their opening 1-0 loss to Real Sociedad in Group E.
Ben Knapton
