"This season, there was a Manchester United with Paul and there was a Manchester United without Paul."
Jose Mourinho has made it clear how important Paul Pogba is to Manchester United and the France international is racking up the numbers to prove it.
Wearing the captain's armband, Pogba delivered a man-of-the-match performance as United beat Everton 2-0 on Monday - Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard on the scoresheet.
Pogba's tricky footwork and pass helped set up Martial's opener and he released Lingard for the second, moving the Frenchman onto seven Premier League assists this season in just 12 appearances.
Added to his three goals, Pogba has already been involved in more goals this term than he was in 30 Premier League appearances in 2016-17 (five goals, four assists).
Pogba's recent injury absences have led to detrimental performances from United. Indeed, the Red Devils' record signing has not been on the losing side in a Premier League game since October 2016.
As United try to claw back rivals Manchester City at the top of the league, they will hope to be a Manchester United with Paul more often than a Manchester United without Paul for the remainder of the campaign...
435 - It's now 435 days since Paul Pogba last ended on the losing team in a Premier League game (October 23rd 2016 v Chelsea). Since then he's played in 34 games (W21 D13 L0), while Man Utd have lost five games without him in this period. Talisman. January 1, 2018
