Kyle Walker has admitted he’s no longer the fastest player in the Premier League, after appearing to be outrun during Manchester City’s 3-2 victory over Fulham earlier this month. Long known as one of the quickest players in world football, the 34-year-old met his match in Adama Traore at the Etihad Stadium on October 5.
In a key moment, Raul Jimenez played a long ball into open space, with both Walker and Traore racing towards it. Despite Walker’s slight head start, Traore reached the ball first, surging past the City captain before firing a shot that was saved by Ederson, sparing Walker’s blushes.
The footage of Walker being outpaced quickly went viral on social media, prompting him to respond. On the BBC Sport podcast *You’ll Never Beat Kyle Walker*, he acknowledged, “Adama Traore would beat me, quite comfortably—I want to address that.” Walker added, “I thought I had him. It’s no excuse; he beat me fair and square, but I’ll remember it. My arm should have come across, but when I’m running backwards, most players stop. He backed himself, and the next thing, he’s in front of me. I tried to get an arm in to claw back, but he’s that strong. From what I’ve seen, he could be up there with me.”
Walker also highlighted Tottenham defender Micky van de Ven as another player who might rival his speed in the Premier League.
However, he suggested that Traore is only the second player in his career to have truly outpaced him. “Not bad in 18 years,” he remarked. “The first time someone can actually say they beat me in a sprint was probably [Ousmane] Dembele. There’s a clip of me sprinting to catch him when we played France away.”
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