Key quotes from Mazraoui's press conference

The Reds' summer signing has impressed supporters with his performances so far, and he was asked about what he's made of the reception since his move from Bayern Munich.

Nous also compared United to former club Bayern, spoke in-depth about his relationships with Matthijs de Ligt and Erik ten Hag and weighed in on the debate about the number of the games in the calendar.

Read on for the key quotes from Carrington...

CONNECTIONS ARE IMPROVING

“Well, you have to understand that when you come here as a new player, your expectations are that things will only get better. [When I arrived] I’d attended two trainings, there were 80 per cent of players in the squad I’d never played with yet. My expectation is that once the connections and automatic responses get embedded and more natural, things can only go up and up.”

NUMBER OF GAMES IS DEMANDING

“There are competition games, cup games, internationals, European Championships, World Championships. If you’re properly poised, prepared you may be playing up to 70 games a season which of course isn’t for everyone. It’s likely in most clubs there will be one or two players who make it through that season without any injuries at all.

“If we really had the answer on this question, I think a lot of players would be able to play up to 70 games but realistically what you see is what I said: a big team who plays a lot of matches, they [the players] are not able to play this much of the games. You see one or two players who play up to 70 and being fit the whole season so I don’t really think there’s yet [an answer], maybe there will be eventually, something you can prepare for this. It’s getting more every season and every season you see more and more injuries so I think eventually you see this and altogether it’s too much.”

GOOD TO SEE OLD FACES

“Those two [Twente's Carel Eiting and Matthijs De Ligt] still have a lot of close contacts with each other. There used to be quite the clique together with [Bochum’s] Dani De Wit. So it will be fun to see them again and have a catch-up, I’m looking forward to it.

“Back in the time we were in the youth team, I think Carel was viewed as more of a talent, as a bigger talent than I was. Ultimately, as you already said yourself, everybody travels their own road in football. For example I know Carel had an injury in the early days that caused him a great deal of trouble. His recovery took a long time, so that’s one point I think our paths diverged. That’s the beautiful thing about football that where you end up is dependent on a great different many factors.”

MEMORIES OF TWENTE

“Twente was always a difficult away game. I haven’t been there very often myself but our coach is from that area and I get on very well with him so in that sense we get on with the Tukkers [those from the region].”

UNITED IS A NEW CHALLENGE

“If you compare both of them, you cannot say one is bigger than the other. Maybe internationally speaking, Manchester United is probably bigger than Bayern so that’s for sure one of the reasons. The other reason is that I felt at that time, last summer, after two seasons at Bayern, I needed and wanted another step based on a lot of reasons. I felt OK there but I had a feeling that I can feel better and more comfortable somewhere else. That’s why I eventually chose to change clubs and that’s where Manchester United came in. I don’t really think I have to explain why I chose such a decision.”

ERIK A BIG DRAW 

“Of course it’s a big factor. Always if you decide to go to another club, you have to decide if the manager and his way of seeing football fits into your way of playing football. I knew him already, I knew his way of seeing the game and his style really fits into how I play and that’s really a big factor. That you work beforehand with him also makes it easier. I knew what he expected from me and he knows it from my side as well. Seeing those things makes it easier, but eventually it’s what I said, it was not the only factor why I came to this big club.”

ME AND MATTHIJS

“Of course, I think that’s also one of the big things, not just him but already I knew others here to settle down easier. It’s tough to come to a new club with new players and new people but the moment you feel comfortable is the moment you play better. Because I knew some players here and I came together with Matthijs, which makes life easier.”

FANS A HUGE POSITIVE

“Of course, you hear some things but this love from the fans is a really good feeling. I appreciate them and they appreciate me. If I can start off well like this, I also want to give them more.”

RELATIONSHIP WITH RENE AND RUUD

“It’s tough to say because I’m just a month here. I knew them by name but I’d never worked with them before. We speak a lot, they help the team a lot. They are also a big factor of settling in easily because they also speak Dutch so they know the culture and how I am already as a player. This helps also with settling in better. We speak a lot about the game, position wise, about the defensive line, to improve and to be better as an individual but also as a whole team and a whole group.”