Takehiro Tomiyasu has now claimed that one Arsenal player is even faster than winger Gabriel Martinelli.
Gabriel Martinelli is one of the more rapid members of the Arsenal first team squad.
The Brazilian attacker has often beaten opposition full-backs for pace, and poses a constant threat in behind with his speed.
However, he is not the Arsenal player to have clocked the highest sprint speed on the pitch this season. That honour in fact, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, belongs to Ben White. The right-back can regularly be seen bombing his way up and down the right flank, and is capable of doing so exceptionally quickly.
White has been called a “mentality monster” in the past due to his ability to play through pain, but his physicality also allows him to get around the pitch with great speed.
Takehiro Tomiyasu claims Eddie Nketiah is quicker than Gabriel Martinelli
However, when Takehiro Tomiyasu, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Mohamed Elneny were asked by STATSports to name the Arsenal player to have recorded the fastest running speed this season, not one of them named White.
Elneny and Zinchenko both offered Martinelli as an answer, whilst Tomiyasu suggested Eddie Nketiah. They were then all informed that White was in fact the correct answer.
Nketiah is not necessarily known for his pace. Whilst the Hale End academy graduate is no slouch, he tends to really come alive in the penalty area, and perhaps has not always been able to make the most of his pace by playing on the shoulder of the last defender.
Do Arsenal lack pace in the final third?
Tomiyasu himself is fairly quick, which allows him to recover his position as a left-back if Arsenal lose possession of the ball whilst he is high up the pitch.
There is an argument, though, that the Arsenal attacking contingent lacks real raw pace in general. Martinelli aside, there is no on else available to Mikel Arteta with blistering pace in that part of the pitch.
Bukayo Saka isn’t slow, and Jorginho has insisted that Kai Havertz is deceptively fast, but neither of those two would break any speed record, and neither would Leandro Trossard or Gabriel Jesus.
The Gunners are likely to sign another forward in the upcoming summer transfer window. Arsenal have been linked with a host of strikers. Speed may well be one of the attributes which the North London club’s scouts are looking for.
Arsenal have been credited with an interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. The Swedish forward would certainly bring some additional pace to Arteta’s squad.