A host of football’s fastest players have descended on Germany for Euro 2024 this month – and the best sprinter among them has now been revealed.
Surprisingly, both Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker have missed out on the top 10 despite the duo putting on the afterburners to devastating effect last season.
Instead, a centre back has taken the top spot, forcing several blistering forwards to settle for places further down the rankings. Other shock names are also above them.
The fastest speed racked up by a player competing at the tournament this summer came in at an impressive 37.38km/h, also the Premier League’s fastest sprint.
That record, of course, belongs to Tottenham centre back Micky van de Ven.
In second place is Wolves and Portugal forward Pedro Neto, whose red-hot speed of 36.86km/h narrowly tops Jakub Moder’s 36.84km/h effort.
Dominik Szoboszlai comes in fourth place, having recorded a time of 36.76km/h, with Germany defender Antonio Rudiger an eyebrow-raising inclusion in fifth place.
Anthony Gordon racked up a 36.68km/h sprint in sixth spot with Karim Adeyemi, Amadou Onana and Mykhailo Mudryk seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
Bournemouth centre back Illia Zabarnyi rounds off the top 10.
Van de Ven reached his record-breaking top-flight speed when he raced back to catch Brentford’s Lewis Keane-Potter in Spurs’ 3-2 victory in January.
In doing so, the young defender surpassed Manchester City speed demon Walker as the fastest player in the history of the Premier League.
Praising Van de Ven after he shattered the record, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said: ‘We knew what we were getting from a physical perspective.
‘His speed and ability to recover was elite. It’s not just about running fast – football’s more than that and you’ve got to use that in the right way.
‘I’ve been really impressed with the way he has adapted to Premier League football, and being up against top strikers every week.
‘His ability to use that speed in such an effective way in terms of his defensive work has been outstanding for a young man in his first year [of Premier League football].
