Juan Mata’s outrageous stats suggest he could well be the best midfielder in the league

What Juan Mata has done with his time in the Premier League isn't short of incredible.

One of the most liked men in English football just so happens to be one of the most effective too. His goal against Leicester on Sunday, his tidy, polished, cool-as-you-like goal helped him to new heights not yet scaled by any Premier League midfielder in the last six seasons. And, my, how it was done in mighty, Mata-esque style. The Spaniard keeps the defence on edge by drilling it to Mkhitaryan and not back out to Pogba like those six defenders want. The old classic give and go. Opens up the body before dragging it into the near post. The 28-year-old came to the Premier League in the summer of 2011. He spent two and a half seasons with Chelsea and now he's in his fourth different campaign with United. As a midfielder, no-one can match his stats in that time. Since August 2011, Juan Mata's Premier League record sees him boast:

• 44 goals
• 42 assists

26 of those goals were with United (three seasons). 18 with Chelsea (two and a half seasons). Only 15 of those assists have been with United though. 27 with Chelsea.

It means that Mata has been directly involved in 86 goals since his Premier League debut. No other midfielder has been involved in as many goals in that time.

What's more special is how many games he has done it in.

• In 82 league matches for Chelsea, he racked up 18 goals and 27 assists.
• In 105 league matches for United, he's hit 26 goals and 15 assists.

Of those 187 appearances, Mata has been brought on as a sub 28 times. That means he's either scored or assisted 86 times with 159 Premier League starts and 28 substitute appearances. And how many times is he brought off in those games? So let's look at his effect per minute. Mata has played 13,723 minutes in the Premier League - so his effect from midfield is deadly (even more so than the appearance count would suggest):

He is directly involved in a goal with - scoring or assisting - every 159.6 minutes.

That means he's averaging a goal or assist much more frequently than just every other game. It means he's scoring or setting up in over 56% of his games. It means he's a good player. The most effective in the league in his time.