Who is the fastest player in the Premier League?
Spylax examines the top speeds of the English top flight’s fastest players.
Speed is important in every aspect of modern football, and it can be a harsh sport if a player is a few yards too slow. Strikers have a significant advantage if they can sprint past their marks onto through balls, whilst defenders must have a good turn of pace to keep up.
Distance speed is only one component of a player’s arsenal; they must also have strength, conditioning, game intelligence, and ball ability. Nonetheless, a powerful sprinter has a firm foundation upon which to expand.
So, who are the Premier League’s top speedsters?
Spylax Media examines the top speedsters in the division and how they compare to other competitors.
Mykhailo Mudryk, a new Chelsea recruit, set the fastest top speed in the 2022-23 Premier League season, reaching 36.63 kilometers per hour in the Blues’ January 2023 match against Liverpool.
- Interpreting Thiago Alcantara’s Injury Woes: Insights Into Liverpool’s Understanding of the £25M Signing
- Premier League’s top ten best defenders 2023
- When does the summer transfer period begin and end? Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham have important dates.
- Premier League Fixture Rules Unveiled: Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham Add ‘Complexity’ to the Mix
- 2023 Ballon d’Or favourites ranked including Messi, Haaland & Mbappe
Mudryk’s pace is slightly faster than Anthony Gordon’s (36.61 km/h), with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez and Manchester City star Erling Haaland trailing with top speeds of 36.53 km/h and 36.22 km/h, respectively.
Chelsea midfielder Denis Zakaria is fifth on the list, with a top speed of 36.09 km/h.
Mudryk’s top speed in the 2022-23 season is comparable to the top speed from 2021-22, which was set at 36.7 km/h by Antonio Rudiger, who was then playing for Chelsea. In the same campaign, Mohamed Salah’s fastest speed was 36.6 km/h, while Adama Traore also hit the 36.6 km/h mark.
Manchester City defender Kyle Walker is widely regarded as the Premier League’s quickest player after reaching a top speed of 37.8 km/h in the 2019-20 season, however the England international may have lost a few yards in the intervening years.
- Bayern Munich Hit with Injury Blow Ahead of Champions League Clash Against Manchester United
- Pochettino Sends Clear Message to Chelsea Board Following Disappointing Everton Loss
- Interpreting Thiago Alcantara’s Injury Woes: Insights Into Liverpool’s Understanding of the £25M Signing
- Release Clause Confirmed by Erik ten Hag as Man Utd Star Granted January Departure Option
- Unai Emery Sends Class Message to Bukayo Saka Ahead of Arsenal Showdown
How do footballers stack up against Olympic sprinters?
Footballers are obliged to sprint at great speeds over short distances as athletes, but how do they compare to the world’s quickest athletes? Actually, it’s not too horrible.
Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt is the fastest man ever to have lived, setting the record for the 100m sprint at 9.58 seconds in 2009. He also holds the second (9.63 secs) and third (9.69 secs) fastest times. Bolt, who is now retired, hit a fastest recorded top speed of 44.72 km/h, which is significantly faster than the top speed of modern footballers.
Marcell Jacobs, who won gold in the 2020 Olympics 100-meter sprint, reached a top speed of 43.06 km/h, while Fred Kerley, who won silver, reached 42.8 km/h.
Surprisingly, the quickest Premier League footballers are usually faster than the fastest NFL footballers. Devin Duvernay of the Ravens, for example, was the fastest NFL player in 2022 with a top speed of 34.76 km/h, which is 1.87 km slower than Mudryk’s high speed in 2022.
