Jose Mourinho brought in Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic last summer, but Eric Bailly was arguably his most important acquisition.

The £30 million signing was the first player the “Special One” added to his squad at Manchester United, and he enjoyed a fantastic debut campaign.

Bailly bullied opposition forwards at times with his pace and power, and the Ivorian established himself as the club’s best centre-back – just like Nemanja Vidic did 11 years ago.

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The rock solid United legend became captain during his eight-and-a-half-year stay at Old Trafford and formed one of the great central defensive partnerships with Rio Ferdinand.

Many Man Utd fans feel Bailly can become as good as Vidic, so how do each of their first seasons in the Premier League compare with one another? Let’s take a look at the statistics.

16-17 Bailly vs. 06-07 Vidic

Having joined from Spartak Moscow in January 2006, 2006-07 was Vidic’s first full campaign for Man Utd, playing 25 league games and scoring three times as they won the Premier League.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s side kept ten clean sheets with the Serbian in their back four and only let in 15 goals, which works out at just 0.6 per game.

Bailly also made 25 Premier League appearances in 2016-17, and across them, United conceded exactly the same number of goals (15) but managed to keep 12 clean sheets.

The 23-year-old made 60 tackles, 21 more than Vidic, but the former United skipper had a higher tackle success rate of 85% (72% for Bailly).

Vidic also made a whopping 230 clearances, significantly more than Bailly’s 126, and blocked four shots in his first full Premier League term, twice as many as Bailly.

That said, the Ivory Coast international’s tally of 60 interceptions is much better than Vidic, who managed 11, and it’s incredibly close in terms of duels won.

Duels include aerial battles in addition to those on the ground, and Bailly won 136 of his during the 2016-17 campaign, just one less than Vidic’s total of 137.

The current Man Utd star looks more accomplished on the ball, however it’s Vidic who actually recorded more passes per game, with an average of 42.76 to Bailly’s 35.04.

Vidic committed 35 fouls, seven more than Bailly, and, as you might expect, picked up more yellow cards too – seven compared to the Ivorian’s four.

Can Bailly become as good as Vidic?

The statistical comparison between Bailly and Vidic’s first full seasons in England’s top-flight shows how similar the pair are in terms of performance at relatively similar stages of their career.

United’s current defender turned 23 back in April, while the former Red Devils skipper was 24 when he signed for the club back in 2006.

In the eleven categories we looked at, both Vidic and Bailly came out on top in five each, with one stat being exactly the same (number of goals conceded).

With his tackling, marking, interceptions and aggression, Bailly certainly has the natural talent to be as influential as Vidic, who went on to be included in the FIFA FIFPro World XI twice.

If he adds to his game the leadership qualities that Vida had, the signs suggest that Bailly will emulate the Serb by becoming a world-class defender in the not too distant future.

Do YOU think Bailly can become as good as Vidic for Man Utd in the years to come? Leave YOUR opinion in the comments box below!