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Yes, we're serious. No, we're not joking. And no, this has not been written by a Man United fan.

When it comes to football's most important statistics, the numbers prove it quite clearly: Juan Mata has been the best Premier League midfielder of the last five years.

If you know anything about football, you know that there is only one stat that truly matters: goals. Not possession. Not passing accuracy. Not shot conversion rates. It's all about GOALS.

You want your defenders stopping goals. You want your strikers scoring goals. And your midfielders? You want them a) scoring goals and b) setting up goals.

Which brings us to Mata's numbers…

(Image: Michael Regan)

Mata joined Chelsea in August 2011, meaning the Man United man has been playing in the Premier League for just over five years. After his strike in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal, he has now scored 42 goals in that time. On top of that, he has racked up 41 assists.

That means he has been involved in (i.e. scored or set up) a grand total of 83 goals since August 2011 - and that puts him top of the list of midfielders with most goal involvements in that time.

3rd: Eden Hazard, 79

48 goals, 31 assists

(Image: Jan Kruger)

2nd: David Silva, 83

31 goals, 52 assists

(Image: Alex Livesey)

1st: Juan Mata, 83

42 goals, 41 assists

(Image: Action Images via Reuters)

Before you point it out, yes, we know Silva and Mata are technically joint top. Mata has scored more, so we're saying that puts him in first place.

Here's the full top 10 of midfielders with most goal involvements in that time period:

Most goal involvements since Aug 2011, PL midfielders

So, as well as being the nicest guy in football, he's also the most effective attacking midfielder in the Premier League.

What a guy…