Brennan Johnson overtakes Mykhailo Mudryk as Premier League fastest player

It might have been a tough season for Nottingham Forest, with Steve Cooper's side desperately fighting for survival, but they can at least lay claim to having the fastest player in the Premier League.

Forest's forward Brennan Johnson has been clocked at 22.80 miles per hour, according to Opta, meaning he is the quickest top flight star.

The 21-year-old has been a shining light for his side this year, scoring eight out of their 26 Premier League goals and his record speed came in their 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the City Ground in February.

He takes over the crown as the league's fastest player from several other players who have held it at times this season.

Back in January, Mykhailo Mudryk went into first place after he was clocked at 22.76mph on his debut against Liverpool as he dazzled after coming off the bench, but the Ukrainian now drops to second fastest.

At the time, Mudryk beat this season's previous top speed record set by Anthony Gordon back in November when he was playing for Everton.

The winger - who moved to Newcastle for £40m in January - was measured at 22.74mph.

He reached that speed during Everton's 3-0 win over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park – which the youngster scored in.

Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez briefly held the speed record back in October, when he clocked in a speed of 22.68mph against West Ham.

Elsewhere, Wolves' Matheus Nunes is a new entry in the top five quickest players with the Portuguese star reaching a speed of 22.57mph.

Man City's goal machine Erling Haaland has recorded a top speed of 22.50mph while Mudryk's Chelsea team-mate Denis Zakaria is measured as the seventh fastest player in the Premier League this season at 22.43mph.

Places eight to ten are taken by Arsenal players with Reiss Nelson - 22.41mph - Kieran Tierney - 22.36mph - and Gabriel Martinelli - 22.28mph - all being clocked at high speeds.

Johnson is a fraction behind former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger as the fastest player in the league across the past two campaigns, with the German reaching 22.8mph last year.

His position in first is testament to the Welsh forward after a fine debut season in the top flight.

He has started 29 games and played 2,598 minutes of action this season, which is more than any other Forest player.

Steve Cooper will be relying on Johnson using his devastating pace and quality during their remaining games as his struggling side look to steer themselves out of trouble and the Welshman is clearly a huge fan of the forward.

He recently said: 'Everyone knows what I think of Brennan. It is his first season in the Premier League and there have been so many positive things. I am sure there will be more to come in the run-in.'