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According to a report from  Manchester United's official website, the Red Devils have agreed a deal in principle to sign 21-year-old Swansea winger Daniel James.

James will arrive ready to add some much needed competition for Anthony Martial, who’s failed to put together a prolonged string of positive performances under any manager since his first season, although he has shown glimpses of his class over the four years since he signed.

Martial was the main man at United under Louis van Gaal, but the Frenchman has been eclipsed not only by other stars, but by other signings whose high transfer fees automatically earned them persistence in the starting line-up, like Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez.

James doesn’t arrive for a huge transfer fee, though, and one would assume the Swansea star’s signing isn’t designed to act as an immediate replacement for Martial, but the two wingers do play very similar roles.

In order to compare them fairly, how do James' stats from this season compare to Martial's 2014/15 campaign which preceded his move to Old Trafford?

Both players made 30+ appearances in the league for their clubs before joining United, which show how important they’d been.

The pair prefer playing on the left of a forward line and show a lot of bravery carrying their teams forward, which can been seen in their successful dribbles stats, a figure Martial just edged with four more.

Their goal contributions are very similar too, with the Frenchman enjoying one more goal involvement than his soon-to-be teammate. Martial’s 12 edged James’ 11, but what’s really interesting is when you break the stats down and couple it with other numbers.

Martial’s 12 goal involvements are split into nine goals and three assists, whereas James is top-heavy in the supply department, registering seven assists and only four goals. These stats become more fascinating when you look at the stark contrast between the key passes made by each man: the Welshman sitting on 40 and the United man on just 12.

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This is a huge difference, and when you consider James has also registered more assists in a worse team, it’s clear to see that the Swansea youngster has an eye for a pass and is happy to be the supplier as well as a runner in the final third. This is a flexibility and versatility in a winger we haven’t seen at United since the Ferguson days.

If this versatility isn’t enough, James’ work rate will surely please.

The Welshman arrives at Old Trafford having made 26 tackles last season, and Solskjaer will surely focus on these details when rebuilding his squad, one that will have to be very hard-working off the ball if the club are to fully embrace their traditions of old.

Martial has kicked on since his move to Manchester and he’s one of their few signings since Ferguson left who has genuinely improved after the move, though many believe he could and should have developed even further than he has.

James will arrive to provide competition for the Frenchman, but any thoughts to becoming United’s first choice left winger are perhaps for the long-term as Solskjaer looks to build with the intention of delivering prolonged success.