Harry Maguire reacts to increased Man Utd competition after Matthijs de Ligt signing | OneFootball

Manchester United defender Harry Maguire remains hopeful of playing plenty of games this season, despite centre-back competition from new arrival Matthijs de Ligt.

Maguire, who missed the FA Cup final and Euro 2024 after failing to overcome a calf injury, has started each of United's first two games of the 2024/25 campaign. In Friday night's Premier League opener, he got the nod to start alongside Lisandro Martinez ahead of De Ligt.

Many fans expect a combination of Martinez and De Ligt, both Erik ten Hag's former players at Ajax, will become the preferred centre-back partnership. The dynamic will change again once teenage prodigy Leny Yoro recovers from a foot injury in November.

But with United aiming to go far in the Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup on top of 38 Premier League games, Maguire is confident the demands warrant a big squad of players.

Matthijs de Ligt has added to the competition for places / Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/GettyImages

"There's so many games this season. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of changes to come, game to game, in the starting XI," Maguire explained in an interview with club media. "And when your turn is upon you, you need to take your chance. And yeah, it's one that we'll need a big squad for."

Regarding his own condition after missing plenty of football last season and coming off less than an hour into the Community Shield, he added: "I feel good, I feel fit. Physically and mentally, I'm in a good place and, yeah, I'm looking forward to a big season."

De Ligt replaced Maguire for the final ten minutes of the narrow win over Fulham, with Jonny Evans also brought on for new full-back Noussair Mazraoui, and Martinez finishing the game at left-back. Fellow centre-back Victor Lindelof remains sidelined through injury and was seen using a crutch in a recent social media post by his wife, captioned: "Doing everything in slow motion these days".