Erik ten Hag believes the likes of Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay will have roles to play at Manchester United this season due to the “really condensed” schedule.
McTominay has played seven minutes of Premier League football this season, while Maguire, who lost the captain’s armband to Bruno Fernandes over the summer, is yet to feature for United.
The centre-back was strongly linked with a move to West Ham earlier in the summer, with a £30million move seemingly moving close to completion, but Maguire ultimately decided against leaving Old Trafford.
McTominay is also expected to remain at United, despite Fulham considering the midfielder as they eye replacements for Joao Palhinha, who is likely to move to Bayern Munich.
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Asked about Maguire and McTominay staying at the club, Ten Hag pointed to the fixture list as he emphasised the need for a strong squad to compete across four competitions.
“If you see the schedule, it’s really condensed,” the United boss explained.
“When you see last season, the World Cup, [it was a] crazy season. Last season takes longer, two weeks [longer]. We played the FA Cup final one week longer, we had a short break, a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers but also the numbers have to be quality.
“And I think with this squad, we have the depth and we have quality players in. We can be variable, in a variety of systems and we are happy with it. As I said, we are ready to go into the fight.”
