Liverpool have had some incredibly quick players over the years.
Indeed, Darwin Nunez was one of the fastest players in the Premier League when he was at Liverpool, while Federico Chiesa’s pace is remarkable too.
On top of that, Michael Owen was ridiculously quick as a youngster as well.
Speaking to The Mail, John Barnes has been tasked with building his perfect footballer based on attributes made up from players in Premier League history.
Interestingly, when it came to pace, Barnes picked another Liverpool icon.

John Barnes picks Sadio Mane for his pace
Barnes was tasked with building the ultimate footballer from a number of key attributes.
Inevitably, David Beckham was picked for his right foot, while Gareth Bale was picked for his left peg.
When it came to pace, Barnes actually picked Sadio Mane for his speed.
Barnes knows his onions when he’s talking about great Premier League players, and his ultimate player would make for a serious footballer.
| John Barnes’ ultimate player | |
| Right foot | David Beckham |
| Left foot | Gareth Bale |
| Speed | Sadio Mane |
| Strength | Alan Shearer |
| Footballing brain | Peter Beardsley |
| Personality | Steven Gerrard |
How fast was Sadio Mane?
Barnes picked Mane as the fastest player he’s seen in the Premier League, and, in all honesty, that’s not a bad shout.
Mane was absolutely rapid in his heyday, reaching a top speed of 21.4mph at Liverpool, making one of the Reds’ fastest players.
However, Mane wasn’t Liverpool’s quickest player in his prime.
Back in 2018, TNT Sports released a list of the Reds’ quickest players, and the results were somewhat surprising.
| Rank | Liverpool’s fastest players (2018) | Top Speed (mph) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joe Gomez | 21.6 |
| 2 | Virgil van Dijk | 21.5 |
| 3 | Sadio Mane | 21.4 |
| 4 | Trent Alexander-Arnold | 21.1 |
| 5 | Andy Robertson | 21.0 |
| =6 | Mohamed Salah | 20.9 |
| =6 | Roberto Firmino | 20.9 |
| 8 | Georginio Wijnaldum | 20.7 |
Joe Gomez was actually Liverpool’s quickest player around that time, and while Gomez wasn’t necessarily as explosive or as devastating as Mane, when he got going, he was absolutely rapid.
Mane left Liverpool in 2022 to join Bayern Munich for £40m, and he will always be remembered as a true Liverpool legend.
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