Carrick Welcomes New Manchester United Midfielders

Michael Carrick admits he will have to fight for his place in the Manchester United midfield following the arrival of Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Boss Louis van Gaal spent £40 million signing Schneiderlin from Southampton and Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich to bolster his central midfield options.

Their arrival means more competition for places, but Carrick says the signings are good for the team.

"You want the best players here, and it's good for the squad, for the team," Carrick said.

"Morgan is good player. He has done terrific. It's another step for him in his career and there's no better place to be.

"We all know what Basti brings. He is a terrific player and he'll have a big influence on us going forward."

Schweinsteiger has failed to impress so far on United's pre-season tour of the United States.

The German World Cup winner is yet to start a game, with Van Gaal preferring to use Carrick and Schneiderlin as holding midfielders in the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used in the three games so far.

Schweinsteiger looked relatively comfortable as a substitute in the first game against Club America in Seattle, but Van Gaal described the midfielder's performance against San Jose Earthquakes as "bad" and he missed the 3-1 win over Barcelona with a minor injury.

The 30-year-old is fit to feature in United's final game of the tour against Paris St Germain in Chicago in the early hours of Thursday, however.

Another win would give United a 100 per cent record from their American tour. Although he missed it through injury, Carrick is aware United won all their pre-season matches last season before accumulating just 13 points from their opening 10 Premier League matches.

"You can gauge what you can from these pre-season games, but Tottenham on the first day of the season is where you're judged the most, and we're well aware of that even after three good results," he said.

"The manager has been here a longer time and we're now used to his way of playing.

"We've improved as a team by understanding his way. I think we're stronger in numbers, in strength and depth and in quality this year."

Credit: Skysports.com