Manchester United's Michael Carrick welcomes competition for places

Michael Carrick says increased competition for places will help Manchester United's title challenge this season.

United manager Louis van Gaal strengthened his midfield options with the summer signings of Bastian Schweinsteiger from Bayern Munich and Morgan Schneiderlin from Southampton.

However, Carrick, who has 380 appearances for United, says he has never contemplated leaving Old Trafford, even when faced with the prospect of falling down the midfield pecking order.

"It's not even something I've thought about at all, it's never been an issue," said the 34 year-old England international, speaking at the launch of Marathonbet, Manchester United's Official Sports Betting Partner. 

"I think overall we're a stronger unit, time is going to tell how good we are. It's alright us saying now we believe we're at this stage, or we believe that we're that good, but it's results and performances that dictate that.

"I think we're quite happy with where we are but there's plenty of work to do to improve.

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"We've got some good players, really good players now. There's always been that competition, in this squad there always has been. That's what brings out the best in the players here. It has done over the years and I'm sure it will this season.

"We're all not going to play every game, hopefully if we progress through to the Champions League we'll have a lot of games. We're here for the team, we're here for the squad and to be successful, you need the squad and everyone performing."

Van Gaal's side began their Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory against Tottenham at home last Saturday and they will be looking for back-to-back wins on Friday night when they face Tim Sherwood's Aston Villa at Villa Park.