Man City captain Kyle Walker breaks his silence after losing sprint race with Fulham speedster Adama Traore

Kyle Walker has admitted he is no longer the fastest player in the Premier League after appearing to be outmatched during Manchester City’s 3-2 win over Fulham earlier this month.

Walker has long been regarded as one of the fastest footballers in world football, but the 34-year-old seemingly met his match in the form of Adama Traore at the Etihad Stadium on October 5.

After Raul Jimenez played a long pass into space, Walker and Traore sent both legs towards the ball.

Despite Walker having a slim lead, Traore was first on the scene and he then stormed clear of the City captain before shooting straight at Ederson – who spared his teammate’s blushes.

Unsurprisingly, footage of Walker being defeated went viral on social media and he has now responded.

Fulham star Traore is known for his physical attributes, especially his speed and strength

Speaking on the BBC Sport podcast You will never beat Kyle Walkersaid the man himself: ‘I mean Adama Traore would beat me very comfortably, I want to deal with it.

“I just base myself on the fact that I’m fast, I thought I had him, it’s no excuse, he beat me fair and square, but I’m going to remember.

“My arm should have come over, but you know, when I started running backwards [towards goal]nine times out of ten people just shut down, but he’s obviously so behind himself, as am I, that he thought, “I can really catch this.”

“And the next minute he’s actually in front of me and I tried to give him the arm to try to claw back a little bit, that’s how strong he is. From what I saw, he could be up there with me.”

Walker then named Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven as another Premier League player who could be close to him in terms of pace.

But Walker also suggested Traore was only the second player in world football to surpass him in the past 20 years.

He added: ‘It’s not bad in 18 years, probably the first time anyone can actually say it [Ousmane] Dembele, I always got that video when I sprinted towards him when we played France.

Walker spoke about Traore this week on his BBC Sport podcast ‘You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker’

Walker and Traore are both among the fastest players currently playing in the Premier League

Ousmane Dembele (centre) photographing a goal for France against England in June 2017

‘I sprinted towards him and he’s basically already running in the other direction and everyone cuts it off, “oh my god, Kyle Walker just got smoked”.

“But that’s not a bad reaction when they’re so surprised, I’m clearly doing something right.”