The 10 fastest Premier League forwards of 2022/23
Blink and you’ll miss them. The Premier League is home to some devastatingly quick forwards.
As if defenders didn’t have a hard enough time dealing with the fleet-footed trickery and ridiculous goalscoring potency of football’s finest forwards in the Premier League, but they also have to cope with their turbo-charged acceleration — it’s an unenviable task.
Assessing the highest ‘top speeds’ — as provided by Opta — we’ve looked at the top 10 quickest forwards from the 2022/23 Premier League season…
10. Adama Traore
Club: Wolves
Appearances: 34
Top speed: 35.56km/h
Absolutely no surprises to see Adama Traore crop up on this list — but perhaps a surprise not to see him ranking even higher. The hulking winger is frighteningly rapid when in full motion, and during his occasional purple patches, where his end product is on the mark, there are few more beautiful (and terrifying) sights in football. That marriage of pace, power and precision is utterly ruthless.
9. Alex Iwobi
Club: Everton
Appearances: 38
Top speed: 35.72km/h
When you’re related to Jay-Jay Okocha, there’s a good chance that you might be pretty good at football. Fortunately for Alex Iwobi, he is. The former Arsenal winger joined Everton and looked to be fading into obscurity, but he has resurrected his career as a repurposed midfielder — and was near ever-present in The Toffees’ most recent campaign, starting every single Premier League game.
8. Allan Saint-Maximin
Club: Newcastle
Appearances: 25
Top speed: 35.73km/h
Another who combines snake-hipped movement and blistering speed. The French trickster often showcases his repertoire of shimmies and pirouettes, but his burners often goes under-appreciated. The Champions League better prepare itself for some Saint-Maximin silk and zipping runs next term.
7. Gabriel Martinelli
Club: Arsenal
Appearances: 36
Top speed: 35.85km/h
Just poetry in motion at times, Gabriel Martinelli encapsulates that Samba finesse and panache so synonymous with Brazilian forwards. Factor in his goalscoring prowess, creative spark and those turbo-charged limbs and you’ve got a forward of truly elite substance.
6. Marcus Rashford
Club: Man Utd
Appearances: 35
Top speed: 35.95km/h
Another inside forward with pace for days and an end product to boot. Man Utd’s academy superstar has lightning-quick pins and certainly knows where the back of the net is, a notion supported by his 17 Premier League goals this term, his joint-best return in the division.
5. Reiss Nelson
Club: Arsenal
Appearances: 11
Top speed: 36.07km/h
There are few academies more fruitful than Hale End, and Arsenal fans will be hoping ‘super sub’ Reiss Nelson ties himself down to a new contract. At 23, he’s not exactly going to dislodge Martinelli or Bukayo Saka, but with the pace he has and an instinctive eye for goal, Arsenal’s squad will be much better for having Nelson around, rather than watching him flourish elsewhere.
4. Erling Haaland
Club: Man City
Appearances: 35
Top speed: 36.22km/h
Anatomically speaking, Haaland looks like he was built in some sort of footballing science lab. At 6ft 4in, he has no right to be as quick as he is, but those lanky legs, coupled with the genetics of a Norwegian Adonis have made him an utterly terrifying forward. That he knows how to stick it top bins has only made him a behemoth of a forward, and Premier League defenders have no idea how to handle him.
3. Darwin Nunez
Club: Liverpool
Appearances: 29
Top speed: 36.53km/h
He didn’t get as many goals as Haaland, but he did record a higher ‘top speed’ — and to be fair, that’s still very impressive. Liverpool fans will be hoping Nunez can crack on next term and really take the division by storm. He looked potent and cut-throat in small doses in his maiden campaign, and there will be an expectation that he can stretch that across an entire season in 2023/24 — particularly if he can hit heights like 36.53km/h.
2. Anthony Gordon
Club: Everton/Newcastle
Appearances: 32
Top speed: 36.61km/h
Few surprises here, Newcastle’s livewire is as fast as lightning and can tear past defenders in the blink of an eye. Full-backs are often left behind as he shows them a clear pair of heels and reaches the corner flag before you’ve even managed to get off your seat. Chuck in a consistent end product, and Gordon can go on to become truly elite, but until then, he probably won’t be getting an England call-up with zero assists in 2022/23. Work your magic Howe!
1. Brennan Johnson
Club: Nottingham Forest
Appearances: 38
Top speed: 36.70km/h
After Kyle Walker, Brennan Johnson is officially the second-fastest player in the Premier League going by 2022/23’s ‘top speed’ numbers. A wing wizard with a Rolls Royce of a motor, the Wales international was utterly essential in Nottingham Forest’s eventual Premier League survival. He featured in every single game they played as they staved off the threat of relegation and will now be hoping to truly kick on next term.
