Manchester United midfielder Ander Herrera has admitted he will have to keep improving if he wants to have a regular first team place.
The Spaniard joined United last summer from Athletic Bilbao and despite struggling for game time in the first few months, ended the season as one of the best players in the side
Yet, even with such an impactful role at the end of the season, Herrera knows that the arrival of midfielders Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin could hurt his chances in the side.
Herrera told the Guardian that he knows "how well [he has] to play to keep playing for Manchester United."
He says he is "happy with [his] development last season but this is Manchester United... I have to keep improving if I want to play for this club."
Herrera says that United now "have the best players the world" but that competition is "good" for him.
Herrera wants to keep improving
At 25 years old, Herrera is nearing the best period of his career but still has a few years "to keep improving" even if "it's always difficult to keep playing here [at United]" because "now there are even better players thank last season."
He says that "it's a good challenge" for him and that “I love football, I love my job and I love to improve so I don’t see that as a problem. I see it as a new challenge that will make me better."
Herrea, who began his career at Real Zaragoza, says he "always believed in myself when [he] was not playing much [last season]," because he "knew in advance [he] was coming to maybe the biggest club in the world."
'I knew the challenge before I joined' says Herrera
"I knew it wasn't going to be easy," he said, speaking to the Guardian, but he joined United because he loves "the challenge" and he loves "to have the chance to play for Manchester United."
Going into the new season, Herrera is "calm because [he believes] in his qualities," and "the big teams are formed with 20-22 players, not only 11."
Herrera played 26 times in the Barclays Premier League last season, scoring six goals, creating an average of one chance per game, and contributing to four more goals with assists. He had the third best passing accuracy rate at United behind Juan Mata and Michael Carrick, with 89% of passes going to the wanted target.