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The 10 fastest players in Bundesliga history

Bayern Munich's Canadian 'Roadrunner' Alphonso Davies previously held the distinction as the fastest player ever recorded in the Bundesliga, but who is the speedster to have pipped him?

bundesliga.com lists the 10 fastest players ever clocked in the German top flight since records began in 2011/12…

>>> Click here for list of fastest players in the current season

1) Karim Adeyemi - 22.77 mph (36.65 km/h)

Borussia Dortmund's German forward turned on the after-burners in his side's 5-1 win over Freiburg early in the second half of the 2022/23 season to set a new Bundesliga speed record. He hit 22.77 mph - setting a new record by a whisker and using his pace to good effect to plunder a goal in Dortmund's win.

Watch: The Bundesliga's top 5 fastest players - AWS analysis

2) Jeremiah St. Juste – 22.76 mph (36.63 km/h)

The appearance of a centre-back near the top of this list may be a shock, but former Mainz man St. Juste is quick - very quick. In fact, only one player has ever been clocked at a faster speed than the Dutchman’s 22.76 mph. He recorded his top speed in Mainz’s encounter with Union Berlin on Matchday 7 of 2021/22.

3) Sheraldo Becker – 22.72 mph (36.57 km/h)

Featuring on the podium with his best mark of 22.72 mph - a speed he reached late on in the 2022/23 season, when he almost completed 1,113 sprints, is Sheraldo Becker, who improved on his previous best of 22.61 mph set midway through the first half of Die Eisernen’s home game against VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 26 of the 2021/22 campaign. Union Berlin's meteoric rise has mirrored Becker's pace, with the Surinamese striker and the club duly embarking on UEFA Champions League football for the first time in 2023/24.

4) Alphonso Davies – 22.69 mph (36.51 km/h)

The 2019/20 season will be one that nobody at Bayern ever forgets, especially Davies. It was his breakthrough campaign at the club following his January 2019 arrival from the Vancouver Whitecaps, almost breaking through the sound barrier on Matchday 32 against Werder Bremen in the game where the Bavarians secured the Bundesliga title - the first of six trophies in 2020 - when he was recorded at a blistering 22.69 mph. He’s the third-fastest player in Bundesliga history, only sitting behind Diaby by 0.006 mph (0.01 km/h).

5) Moussa Diaby – 22.69 mph (36.52 km/h)

Diaby first broke the magic 36 km/h mark at the back end of the 2019/20 season and, as of Matchday 15, holds the record for the fastest player in the 2022/23 campaign when caught at 22.69 mph (36.52 km/h) late in the second half of Bayer Leverkusen’s draw with Wolfsburg on Matchday 11.

Watch: Bundesliga meets NFL – fastest players

6) Achraf Hakimi – 22.67 mph (36.49 km/h)

The record Davies broke in 2020 had previously, for a few months, belonged to Borussia Dortmund's Hakimi after the speed gun caught him at 22.67 mph on Matchday 20 as BVB thumped Union Berlin 5-0. He'd also broken the record four games earlier when he reached 22.49 mph against RB Leipzig.

7) Leon Bailey – 22.62 mph (36.40 km/h)

You can't be a slouch when you count Usain Bolt among your friends - and nobody could accuse Bailey of being one of them. Leverkusen’s former Jamaican winger set the third-fastest speed since records began in the Bundesliga at the time when he reached 22.62 mph on Matchday 33 of 2019/20 against Hertha Berlin. He’s now down to fifth.

Watch: Bundesliga’s new Speed Alert powered by AWS

8) Kevin Schade – 22.60 mph (36.37 km/h)

Freiburg have enjoyed mixing it with the big boys of late and are doing so again on this list with one of their own. Schade is an established member of the senior squad team but yet to really break through into the first XI, despite his blistering pace. The Germany U21 international registered the seventh-fastest speed in Bundesliga history in the first half of the 3-1 win at home to Greuther Fürth on Matchday 10 of 2021/22.

9) Micky van de Ven - 22.58 mph (36.35 km/h)

The fourth defender in this all-time top 10, Dutch youngster van de Ven clocked his personal best time on Matchday 23 of the 2022/23 season in Wolfburg's 2-2 draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. Only two players have been recorded at higher speed than him this term: Diaby and Adeyemi.

10) Erling Haaland – 22.56 mph (36.30 km/h)

No stranger to the odd record, Haaland was once second only to Hakimi in the all-time stakes. Many will also remember his famous sprint the length of the pitch against Paris Saint-German, something he repeated but capped with a goal against Borussia Mönchengladbach not long after (see below). But neither were the quickest we’ve seen the Norwegian. That was actually late in a 1-0 win over Arminia Bielefeld in March 2022 when he clocked 22.56 mph.

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