Nigel de Jong, a former player for Manchester City, thinks Erik ten Hag, manager of Manchester United, has 23 egos in his team.

De Jong also singled out Lisandro Martinez and Antony, two summer signings for Manchester United, saying they both possess a "killer mentality."

You can have the best players in the world, but you can only begin building a proper side when you can turn all those egos into a team, De Jong told the Daily Mirror. "Erik [Ten Hag] has 23 egos in his squad at [Manchester] United.

I can see one thing about Ten Hag's careful selection of his teammates: he has chosen individuals with whom he can win a conflict.

"Look at [Lisandro] Martinez in the team; he has that killer mentality. Martinez will run through fire for Ten Hag. I can already see the plan.

“Antony is adding swagger. He, too, has a mentality that we call "over my dead body". The spirit in the team has changed.”

Recall that Ten Hag signed both Martinez and Antony from Ajax this summer.

The Dutchman had coached the duo during their time together in the Dutch League.