Sergio Busquets will remain with Barcelona for at least four more years.

The Spaniard recently signed a new contract to remain with the Catalan club until the summer of 2019, thus ensuring that a crucial piece of the team's midfield remains in place.

Busquets, of course, might be Barcelona's most essential player in the midfield as he sits deep in the middle of the park connecting the back four to the team's attack. He is no offensive star, but his terrific passing and defensive work is essential to this team's balance.

So how important is Busquets to Barcelona? A look at his work would be a good starting point.

Traditional stats such as goal-scoring and assists would not indicate anything of value. He has scored one goal this year (albeit a game-winner) and has added two assists on the year. But it is the other statistics that really tell the story of Busquet's importance to Blaugrana.

Busquets is second on the team in passing success rate for Barcelona players that have played over 1,000 minutes. Xavi sits about Busquets with 93.1 percent while the holding midfielder has a solid 91.7 completion rate. However, Xavi has only played 1,110 minutes while Busquets has clocked in 1,847 minutes in Spain this season, this in minutes after goalie Claudio Bravo and team talisman Lionel Messi. No other midfielder on the team has managed as many minutes as the superstars with Ivan Rakitic's 1,407 minutes the second highest among midfielders. Busquets averages 1.6 aerials won per match, third on the team and first among midfielders.

For a team that relies as heavily on passing and ball possession, Busquets is third on the team with an average of 72.1 passes per game, thus highlighting not only how often he makes a pass (and thus how much influence), but when considering his passing success rate, it also shows how good he is at actually pick out passes and completing them.

He is also second on the team in average long balls per game with 4.5, proof of his versatility in helping Barcelona have a more elastic game plan.

But everyone knows that Busquets makes his money on the defensive side of the ball. He is second on the team in tackles per game with 3.3; only Dani Alves averages more. Tackles are great, but the real number to admire is the 0.8 fouls Busquets averages per match, good for ninth on the team. This emphasizes that the midfielder makes a ton of intelligent tackles that do not turn into fouls.

That said, Busquets does get dribbled past more than any other player on the entire team, including Dani Alves who has seen that particularly statistic rocket in the wrong direction over the last few years. More concerning is that Busquets' career average in this particular stat is 0.9 dribbles past per game and this a career-high in that regard as well. It might level out or drop as the season wears on, but it might prove an Achilles Heel for the Spaniard. Busquets is not particularly fleet of foot and other opposing players maybe catching on to the fact that he may be easy to run by in possession.

Additionally, he averages 1.6 interceptions per game and 0.6 clearances per match as well, both of which are below his career average and among his worst statistical output. His career average of clearances per game is 2.3 while his career average clearance per game is 1.1. Never has Busquets recorded such low numbers in the Spanish League in those departments as he is this season.

It is an interesting situation to ponder. Despite being known as a stronger holding midfielder, Busquets is actually seeing a decline this season on the defensive side of the ball but is surging offensively. It might be a function of Luis Enrique's new season or a new trend that will eventually become his reality. Whatever the case may be, Busquets is in the prime of his career and should still produce close to or at the level often expected of him.

 All Statistics are from WhoScored.com.