Who really is the fastest player in the Premier League?

For every video of head-to-head sprints during games, Opta data on top speeds and the latest FIFA ratings, football fans would love nothing more than to see the league’s speedsters rubbing shoulders on an athletics track. It would, after all, finally end the debate and crown English football’s fastest player.

Although it’s an almost impossible scenario to see the Premier League organising such a stunt, fans have a pretty good idea of the star who’d be competing for a gold medal. Besides, the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Jamie Vardy and Theo Walcott have shown their incredible pace across numerous instalments of Match of the Day.

However, there are just so many moving factors when it comes to the world of football. You have to take into consideration the role of the ball, opposition players applying pressure, the different distances involved and even the pitch condition.

No matter how data recording and technology progresses in the coming years, naming the fastest won’t get any easier. Based on EA Sports’ FIFA series, Adama Traore is the true king of speed but Opta statistics will tell you that nobody has ran faster than Leroy Sane in the world’s most competitive league.

Premier League 100m race

The perfect scenario would be hiring out the Olympic Stadium, clearing the final straight and delivering one race to settle it all. And although that exact situation will have to remain the stuff of fantasy, it’s certainly not impossible to collate all the data and test who would really cross the line first.

First of all, it’s best to assume the race would take place over 100 metres. The shortest distance in outdoor track and field, it would test both raw pace and also speed endurance to get a more rounded view of who’s truly the fastest.

Moreover, football is an outdoor sport and a 60-metre race – staged at indoor competitions - would be affected heavily by the technique involved in the crouch start as well as reaction times. It should also be agreed that all the players are hypothetically trained in block starts and are kitted out in identical sprint spikes.

All that taken into consideration, Olympic 100 metre races are contested by eight athletes and by crunching the data from FIFA, Opta recordings and the players’ sprint techniques, the line-up of the final has been decided.

They come in at: Mohamed Salah, Jamie Vardy, Leroy Sane, Hector Bellerin, Adama Traore, Wilfried Zaha, Kyle Walker and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

The sprinting world is cruel and that means fellow speed demons such as Anthony Martial, Sadio Mane, Ryan Fredericks and Felipe Anderson miss the cut. The final eight register consistently high across speed, acceleration and technique to make their way to the starting line.

So, without further ado, here is GiveMeSport’s verdict on how the dream Premier League 100m final would really play out. Starting with eighth place:

8. Wilfried Zaha

You know it’s a gruelling race when Zaha is crossing the line in last place. The Crystal Palace man can count himself unlucky, having shown himself to have sound sprinting technique across his Premier League bursts down the wing.

Standing at 180 centimetres, he has a longer stride length that’s crucial when emerging from the drive phase and he would pick off players like Mane during the final 10 metres of the race. It’s important to remember that 100m is nearly the length of an entire Premier League football pitch and Zaha has shown himself to have strong speed endurance.

His FIFA rating of 91 handicaps him somewhat, which is unfortunate considering his recorded top speed of 35.48km/hr is amongst one of the fastest in the race.

7. Kyle Walker

It was inevitable that Walker was going to make the final with his sprinting physique complimented by some note-worthy statistics. Given his position at full-back, the City man has shown he can maintain his top speed across long distances and would quickly gain yards on some of the more explosive sprinters late in the race.

Impressively, too, Walker showed himself to have grear technique, particularly when it came to the form of his arms. Given the different physical demands of football, players often have an inefficient upper body drive which can affect knee-lift and stride length over longer distances.

Nevertheless, his recorded top speeds ensure he misses out on the podium but with an improve gait during his sprints, he could push himself up the pecking order in the future.

6. Jamie Vardy

The former record holder for speed in the Premier League, Vardy is one of the most explosive sprinters in English football. FIFA 19 have been rather conservative by giving him a rating of 90 for pace, especially considering his stride length and height, suggesting he could fare well over a 100m distance.

The middle pack of the race is by far the tightest, so Vardy could easily find himself much closer to the top three if the Premier League staged the event. The Englishman is guilty of arching his back too much on occasions which may unnecessarily string out his drive phase and hamper the progress he could easily make after the halfway point.

Vardy has one of the most rounded profiles in the hypothetical race, but lacks the raw statistics to challenge with the leading pack at the end of the day.

5. Mohamed Salah

The race between the Liverpool strikers results in a victory for Salah, especially when it comes to the distance of 100m. Mane has argued in the past that he comes out on top in training but he wields a lower top speed and gets fewer marks for his technique.

Although lacking a consistent form with his arms, Salah is incredible in not only opening up his stride but also showing a quick turnover that allows him to eat up the yards. Furthermore, he has shown himself to have incredible fitness and his runs behind the defence have displayed his ability to maintain 100% effort over a prolonged period.

So, despite Mane having a better pace rating on FIFA 19, Salah should be able to pull away from his Liverpool teammate during the second-half of the race and bag a fifth-place finish.

4. Hector Bellerin

If this was a 60-metre race, then Bellerin would be taking the gold medal but he misses top spot over the championship distance. The Arsenal full-back has previously recorded a time of 4.42 seconds across 40 metres, which is actually faster than Usain Bolt over the same yardage in his world-record run back in 2009.

What let’s down Bellerin is his ability to maintain that over 100 metres and that’s where the comparisons between him and Bolt become misleading. Not only that, but his top recorded speed of 34.99 km/hr is actually slower than Vardy despite having a superior FIFA rating of 93.

The Spaniard’s shorter physique and average leg technique means he would probably lead the race during the opening exchanges, only to fade back into fourth place.

3. Leroy Sane

That’s right, the player with the fastest recorded speed in Premier League history will have to settle for third place. However, it’s important to note that Sane set the record during a brief explosive sprint against Chelsea in 2017, which showcased his superb acceleration but not necessarily his speed endurance.

Across much longer runs during his time at Manchester City, Sane has showed a lack of athletics knowledge that would push his speed to the next level. The inefficiency of his arms in the constant speed phase would impede him between the 50-70 metre period of the race, seeing him unable to fully capitalise on his brilliant natural speed.

Third place is certainly no detriment to Sane who is undoubtedly one of the fastest players in world football yet his technique would hold him back on race day.

2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

It’s no secret that Aubameyang is one of the fastest players in the Premier League and he proved himself to be pacier than Bellerin in a recent speed test at Arsenal. He’s recorded an impressive top speed in England and has a FIFA rating that’s almost unrivalled at 94.

What makes the Gabon international nearly unbeatable across 100m, is the combination of his stride length and his ability to maintain form. It’s clear that Aubameyang has had specific training for his sprinting, showing efficient drive in both his legs and arms when he accelerates and consolidates his speed.

Given the advantage of his height, the Arsenal man’s impressive turnover sees him gain speed quicker than some of his shorter rivals and 100 metres would suit him perfectly.

1. Adama Traore

We’re sorry, but there is just no beating Traore. The Wolves winger has everything in his locker and there’s plenty of reasons to suggest he would cross the line first over 100m. His raw pace is exemplified by a ridiculous recorded speed of 37km/hr in the Championship and he’s rated as the fastest player on FIFA 19.

That’s all well and good, but he also scores incredibly highly on speed endurance, form and technique. Although players such as Vardy and Bellerin would lead the race during the early stages, Traore would take the lead and – crucially – maintain it when he reaches top speed out of the drive phase.

Simply put, nobody can match his top speed and none of his rivals have technique good enough to efficiently catch him up before the final straight disapperars. Across every department, Traore must be seen as the 100m king.

So, there you have it, Traore is the winner.

The only way to truly decide the fastest player in the Premier League would be to stage the race, replicating a version of the NFL’s 40-yard dash competition, and giving the fans what they’ve been waiting for.

But while the debate will never to be settled until then, a podium finish of Sane, Aubameyang and Traore seems the most likely result based on the statistics and footage currently available. That won’t stop the debate from raging on in seasons to come yet that’s exactly what makes it so exciting to imagine.

Who do you think would win a Premier League all-star 100 metre race? Have your say in the comments section below.