'Survival of the fittest,' says Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag ahead of upcoming Premier League season

Premier League (PL) team Manchester United's manager Erik ten Hag wants to build 'depth' in the squad after last season's horrible eighth-place finish.

Ten Hag, who was all set to lose his job, saved himself after United won the FA Cup, beating rivals Manchester City in the final. The Red Devils have already signed two new players – Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee – to replace now departed Raphaël Varane and Anthony Martial.

Also Read:'Blasphemy and Insult': Paris Olympics draws backlash for 'Last Supper' drag performance

Add WION as a Preferred Source

"We need the squad to be as strong as possible," Ten Hag said at a news conference at UCLA on Friday (Jul 26).

"We already had a very good two buys, so when everyone is fit we have a team who can beat everyone, but with the squad depth we have to catch up because we had injuries, we are vulnerable.

"We have to avoid this by getting less injuries and second, our squad has to be that good. The quality we have in depth we have to catch up, but even more because this season will be the survival of the fittest."

On being asked where he islooking for reinforcements, Ten Hag said: "We are looking in all of the positions to reinforce and we are looking for a plan in our squad to reassure ourselves we are always occupied."

"We work continually and the good thing is we already signed two players and it belongs to a club like Man United that you are looking for opportunities that are better and we still have time until [the deadline on] Aug. 30.

"The load and pressure on players is immense, with the new model in Europe. I just mentioned it, it's survival of the fittest," he added.

The new PL season starts on August 16 with Manchester United taking on Fulham on match day 1 of 38.