LIVE
...

Follow us on

News

John Barnes says Liverpool sold the fastest player in Premier League history for just £40m

Add as preferred source on Google

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.

Sadio Mane with the Champions League trophy
Photo by Erwin Spek/Soccrates/Getty Images

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.

@dailymailsport

BUILD A PLAYER with John Barnes 🧱 Step into the match – PICO 4 Ultra’s exclusive Motion Trackers let you actually kick the ball in VR. Buy now & get the trackers + Premier League Player season pass FREE! #long #football #johnbarnes #liverpool #LFC

♬ original sound – Daily Mail Sport – Daily Mail Sport

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 footDavid Beckham
Left footGareth Bale
SpeedSadio Mane
StrengthAlan Shearer
Footballing brainPeter Beardsley
PersonalitySteven 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.

RankLiverpool’s fastest players (2018)Top Speed (mph)
1Joe Gomez21.6
2Virgil van Dijk21.5
3Sadio Mane21.4
4Trent Alexander-Arnold21.1
5Andy Robertson21.0
=6Mohamed Salah20.9
=6Roberto Firmino20.9
8Georginio Wijnaldum20.7
Stats from TNT Sports

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.