- A host of red-hot sprinters will feature for their countries at Euro 2024
- But both Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker missed out on the top 10
- Listen to It all starts! Were England good in their opener or is the criticism justified?
A host of football’s fastest players have traveled to Germany this month for the 2024 European Championship – and the best sprinter among them has now been revealed.
Surprisingly, both Kylian Mbappe and Kyle Walker missed out on the top 10, despite the duo turning on the afterburners to devastating effect last season.
Instead, a central defender has taken the top spot, forcing several forwards to settle for places further down the rankings. Other shock names are also listed above.
The fastest speed achieved by a player competing in the tournament this summer was an impressive 37.38 km/h, also the fastest sprint in the Premier League.
That record obviously belongs to Tottenham central defender Micky van de Ven.
Ukrainian Mykhailo Mudryk is one of the top 10 fastest players at the 2024 European Championship this summer
But the fast Tottenham and Netherlands defender Micky van de Ven surprisingly tops the list
In second place are Wolves and Portugal forward Pedro Neto, whose blistering speed of 36.86 km/h narrowly surpasses Jakub Moder’s 36.84 km/h.
Dominik Szoboszlai comes in fourth place, with a time of 36.76 km/h, while German defender Antonio Rüdiger raises eyebrows in fifth place.
Anthony Gordon sprinted at 36.68 km/h in sixth place, while Karim Adeyemi, Amadou Onana and Mykhailo Mudryk finished seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
Bournemouth centre-back Ilia Zabarnyi rounds out the top 10.
Van de Ven hit his record-breaking top speed as he raced back to overtake Brentford’s Lewis Keane-Potter in Spurs’ 3-2 win in January.
Wolves and Portugal wideman Pedro Neto took second place with a speed of 36.86 km/h
Borussia Dortmund and the German Karim Adeyemi are also among the speed demons of the showpiece
The young defender surpassed Manchester City speedster Walker as the fastest player in the history of the Premier League.
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou praised Van de Ven after breaking the record, saying: ‘We knew what we were getting from a physical perspective.
“His speed and ability to recover were elite. It’s not just about running fast; football is more than that and you have to use it in the right way.
‘I have been very impressed with the way he has adapted to Premier League football and playing against top strikers every week.
‘His ability to use that speed in such an effective way in terms of his defensive work was excellent for a young man in his first year [of Premier League football].