Who Is More Important to Juventus: Paul Pogba or Arturo Vidal?

While hindsight is a wonderful thing, the question posed by the title of this column has a very different answer today than it would a year ago. Indeed, had they been asked to choose between Paul Pogba or Arturo Vidal last season, most Juventus supporters would have instantly opted for the latter.

The Bianconeri are certainly blessed with a wealth of talent in the centre of the pitch, with the aforementioned pair complemented by two other high-quality players. Andrea Pirlo will be remembered as perhaps the most gifted player of his generation—and one of Italy's all-time greats—while Turin-born Claudio Marchisio is adored by the hometown faithful.

Yet over the last three seasons, Vidal was comfortably the leading man in the Old Lady's midfield quartet. The Chilean arrived shortly after Antonio Conte and became the physical embodiment of everything the coach demanded from his team, making an incredible impact at both ends of the field.

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Signed from Bayer Leverkusen for an initial fee of €10.5 million, per the official Juventus website, the 27-year-old netted a total of 31 league goals in those three title-winning campaigns. That was enough to make him the club's leading scorer over that period while he also weighed in with an additional 10 occasions in Europe and tallied 11 assists.

Clearly a force to be reckoned with in attack, statistics from WhoScored.com show only Udinese's Allan made more tackles than Vidal in Serie A last term. According to the same source, he averaged 4.1 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game while completing 83.7 percent of his pass attempts—numbers that highlight his overall impact.

Fast-forward 12 months, however, and the answer to that original question now is almost certainly Pogba. Steadily improving over the last two years following his move to Italy, the consistent excellence of the young Frenchman has arguably made him Juve's most important and influential player.

While there is a strong case for Carlos Tevez to be given that honour, there is surely little doubt that Pogba has superseded Vidal as the club's most important midfielder. The most obvious area in which he has improved is goalscoring, netting four times in his last five starts to take his 2014-15 tally to six, one short of the career-high mark of seven, which he achieved last season.

In November, he also registered the first Champions League goal of his career, punctuating his 100th appearance for Juventus by finding the net against Olympiakos. A vital match-winning goal from the edge of the area, it was a strike that added to his well-earned reputation as a superb long-range specialist.

Squawka.com

Yet there is so much more to Pogba's play than just goals, and the incredible improvements he has made are evident in almost every other facet of his game. According to statistics from Squawka.com, he has won 47 per cent of his tackles this term, compared to 41 per cent in 2013-14, while improving his success in aerial duels from 58 to 63 per cent.

Clearly now more adept at winning the ball back, it is in possession where Pogba's talent and flair truly shines. His dribbling has also improved, with Squaka.com highlighting he has so far completed 75 percent of his attempted take-ons (56-of-75) compared to just 54 per cent (74-of-136) last season.

It is an innate skill that can never truly be discussed, dissected or explained simply with cold statistics. Watching him shimmy past opponents—as he did in scoring the recent goal against Chievo shown below—is a joy to behold, the sheer audacity of his play bringing to mind some of football's true greats.

Those are the moments that draw fans to the game and keep them enthralled by it as they hope to see the next moment of magic, and clubs across Europe are likely to spend this summer attempting to lure him away from Turin.

It remains to be seen how long Turin's Old Lady can keep Europe's most wanted man, but one thing is clear: Paul Pogba has now become more important to Juventus than Arturo Vidal.