Ask managers what sort of attributes they would like their players to possess and it’s unlikely that you’d have to wait very long before one of them mentioned pace. Whether it is a central defender boasting the ability to get back into position quickly after having been caught out or it’s a forward breaking through the lines of the opposition, having a fast player in your ranks can be key to winning football matches.
When a player who was previously known for their pace begins to lose that ability, they either need to reinvent themselves or move to a slower league.
The question is, who are the fastest players playing in the Premier League right now?
Jackson Tchatchoua
It isn’t exactly outrageous to suggest that not everyone will have been paying much attention to Wolverhampton Wanderers’ season in 2025-2026. That they had only put two points on the board by the time that everyone was sitting down to enjoy their Christmas dinner was a sign of a club destined for relegation.
If you had been watching the Midland side’s game against Everton, though, then you would have seen Jackson Tchatchoua reach a top speed of 37.30 kilometres per hour. That made him the fastest player in the Premier League up until that moment, with the full-back offering Wolves at least one bright spark.
Bryan Mbuemo
Not everyone was convinced when Bryan Mbuemo decided to leave Brentford in order to join Manchester United, not least because of the fact that he had massively over performed his Expected Goals the season before, leading many to believe that a return to the mean was most likely.
Regardless of his goal-scoring prowess or the Red Devils’ form in general, Mbuemo did manage to catch the eye when his team went up against Fulham, where he hit a top speed of 36.36 kilometres per hour. Not as fast as Tchatchoua, but he notched up one of the top three fastest speeds ever, so that can be forgiven.
Dan James
Dan James feels like one of those players that has been hovering around the Premier League for years, never quite doing enough to make it in any kind of consistent way. One thing he has got going for him, however, is his speed, hitting a top level of 36.14 kilometres per hour in a game against Newcastle United.
That means that both Mbuemo and Tchatchoua are only fractionally faster than him. It is an asset that Leeds United have made good use of during the league to date, keeping them away from the relegation zone and taking points from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool in an impressive campaign.
Yakuba Minteh
It doesn’t take much for opposition scouts to be convinced that a Brighton & Hove Albion player might be worth trying to poach away from the south coast club, such is the extent to which Tony Bloom has been impressive with his stats and data during his time as the owner of the Seagulls.
Yakuba Minteh is very much a name on the notepad of any scout that has been to watch Brighton play in the past, with his top speed of 36.11 kilometres per hour in the game against Manchester City being more than enough to impress. How much longer he remains at the AMEX will almost certainly depend on his price.
Anthony Elanga
Swedish player Antony Elanga was signed up to the Manchester United youth system early on in his career, eventually breaking through at Old Trafford during the 2021-2022 season. Sadly for him, the club was in complete disarray at the time, so he didn’t impress and was soon shipped out to Nottingham Forest.
Having made 74 league appearances and scored 11 goals for Forest, he was soon on the list of a Newcastle United side that was preparing for the imminent departure of Alexander Isak to Liverpool. It was whilst playing the Merseysiders that he hit a top speed of 36 kilometres per hour, earning a place on this list.
Jeremie Frimpong
The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Anfield for the dizzy heights of Real Madrid was a move that left the Merseysiders in need of a new box of tricks at right-back. They thought that they had found it in the form of Jeremie Frimpong, only for the Dutchman to be injured more than he’s been available.
Even so, Kopites got a glimpse of the sort of thing that he can offer the side when they were playing Bournemouth and he raced back to get into position by hitting a top speed of 35.86 kilometres per hour. Those that have watched him will feel as though he’s likely to break that at some point in the future.