Stats Show That Manchester United’s Superstar Signing Is Not As Great As Arsenal Midfielder

Manchester United fans have been abuzz ever since Paul Pogba has re-signed with the club. The Frenchman was acquired for a World Record fee of £89 million from Juventus. At just 23 years of age, he’s already provided vital performances for both Juventus and France at the biggest stages and many have tipped him to go on and become one of the best in the world. United were linked to Matic as well, but it was always unlikely that Chelsea were going to sell to a direct rival. United are not the only ones who have signed a midfielder though.

Arsenal have brought in Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka from Borussia Monchengladbach. The German side have had two very good seasons, finishing 3rd and 4th in 2015 and 2016 respectively, and Xhaka has been instrumental for them. Although Matic has been more effective in a defensive role, both Juventus and Gladbach regularly looked to Pogba and Xhaka to create something. In England, though, they will both probably play as defensive midfielders. This is a position Matic has excelled at since his return to Chelsea.

Let’s take a look at their statistics last season. Pogba definitely got further forward than the other two meaning he has not only scored more goals, but also provided more assists. He scored 8 goals and provided 12 assists in the Serie A last season. In contrast, Xhaka scored 3 goals and provided only one assist while Matic scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists. Xhaka was defensively solid winning 2 tackles per game and making 2.61 interceptions per game. Matic wasn’t far behind with 1.91 tackles and 2.03 interceptions per game. Pogba in comparison made only 1.57 tackles per game and a mere 1.34 interceptions per game. The Frenchman tied with Xhaka for least defensive errors though. They only made one each during the course of the season, whereas Matic made 2.

One of the major problems with Xhaka is his discipline though. He committed 2.57 fouls per game receiving 3 red cards in the process in the Bundesliga last season. Although Pogba was close behind with 2.51 fouls per game, he didn’t get a single red card. Matic on the other hand committed 1.15 fouls per game in the league last season getting one red card. When it comes to clearances, it was again Xhaka on top with 1.71 per game. Matic was not too far behind with 1.67 per game while Pogba was a distant third with 0.77. Although the stats might indicate Xhaka and Matic are better than Pogba defensively, they don’t account for everything and we are in for a very interesting season.

Stats compared using Squawka.com