Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes United's elder statesmen have a real fight on their hands to keep their places this season following the acquisition of some promising young talent.

The summer captures of Owen Hargreaves, Nani, Anderson and the imminent completion of a deal for Carlos Tevez have further bolstered the champions squad.

Solskjaer, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, is excited by the club's new arrivals but is well aware their presence may threaten his place this season.

"The gaffer showed tremendous trust in the players we had last season," explained the Norwegian. "We hadn't won the league for three years and he only signed one player, Michael Carrick.

"That's a big sign of trust and he was right, we won the league.

"This season he's bought a few new young players in, probably to challenge the older ones as well because you can't live off your past glory at this club."

Solskjaer has high hopes for the Reds' new signings and believes they have the perfect mentor in Sir Alex Ferguson to help them become the best around.

"The young players are going to need time to settle in England, but the way we've nurtured Wayne and Cristiano, who came to the club as really young, talented players, is down to the gaffer," declared the 34-year-old. "He's made them into top world players.

"That's what you get at Manchester United, you get the challenge every day in training. They have to have that desire to improve all the time."