If you mean Vdv and Tapsoba, then that comment is just too naive.
Of course all players should fight for their places, but no player at that sort of level is going to leave his current club to join us* if he won't at least start off as first choice, i.e. "it's yours to lose". (And let's not get into this nonsense of 'there is no first choice', of course there is, especially in defence where you don't want to change it every game). Of course there will be injuries, suspensions etc, but I can't see Tapsoba signing unless he believes he is going to be starting, and the same may or may not be true of VdV. If VdV understands he will not start above Tapsoba or Romero until they somehow 'let him in' (poor performance, injury, suspension etc) and is happy with that then great, but if that's not the case then I can't see us signing both, and the attitude of 'they need to win their place' is just too naive - that only works if they are already here.
Of course the ideal scenario is that VdV is happy to be 'behind' Tapsoba and Romero and wants to prove he's actually better than them, so let's hope that's the case, but it would be naive of us to assume that it definitely is the case, and if it isn't then I don't see us signing both.
* I accept they might leave their current club to join someone like City or RM to begin as non-first-choice, but joining us to do that seems much less likely. I do hope that I'm wrong.