Edinson Cavani's statistics from this season's Europa League campaign show just how important he is to Manchester United.
The 34-year-old has excelled in Manchester since arriving on a free transfer from PSG last summer and the news of his contract extension was unsurprisingly warmly welcomed by all of those involved with the club, none more than Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
With the benefit of hindsight, it was extremely shrewd business to bring Cavani to Old Trafford, and while there were initially doubts over his suitability to the Premier League in the autumn of his career, he's emphatically responded with his displays on the pitch.
While Cavani's goals were important in consolidating United's runners-up league position this season, the latest statistics ahead of Wednesday's Europa League final against Villarreal in Gdansk demonstrate the quality he offers the Reds.
Notably, Cavani has scored five goals and provided two assists in only 247 minutes of Europa League action this season - that means he's incredibly averaged either a goal or an assist every 35 minutes, which just proves his brilliance when he's on the pitch.
“It’s always difficult to leave players out, but throughout the whole season, a final is a reward for what you’ve done the whole season, then if there’s a doubt between a couple then it’s the form in the latter stages," Solskjaer said on Tuesday.
"We’ll enjoy the last session and the players will get the team.”
There seems little doubt that Cavani will be one of the first names on the team sheet against Villarreal.
