Romelu Lukaku isn’t short of pace, and he has the data to prove it.
A lack of mobility is one of the issues that fans have held against the Manchester United striker during his time in the Premier League, but he has taken to Twitter to prove his doubters wrong.
He posted a video showing the results of a speed test from United’s training, with the Belgian clocking the second highest speed of the session – and there were other surprises as well.
Diogo Dalot was at the head of the pack with a top speed of 36.43kph, with Lukaku just behind him on 36.25kph.
Tahith Chong, Marcus Rashford and new signing Daniel James, renowned for his explosive pace, rounded off the top five.
There may be some eyebrows raised at the order further down the list. Chris Smalling, for example, registered a higher top speed than forward Anthony Martial, while his fellow centre-back Victor Lindelof beat Paul Pogba.
Luke Shaw was the slowest of the players shown in the video, his 31.03kph sprint leaving him behind the likes of Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata and Scott McTominay. Mata at least enjoyed the video, tweeting: "Thanks for finally showing the world that I'm quicker than Luke Shaw bro."
There is one small caveat, with the training session having taken place way back on July 10. That was three days before United’s 2-0 win over Perth Glory in the first game of pre-season, with players still working their way back to full match fitness.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been focusing hard on improving United’s fitness in pre-season, having expressed concerns about his squad’s inability to keep up with the high-intensity game he is looking to implement at Old Trafford.
Lukaku was one of the players to struggle under Solskjaer, and now seems set for the exit door with Serie A pair Juventus and Inter vying for his signature.
He scored two in his first two games under the Norwegian, but only added four more goals – in braces against Crystal Palace and Southampton – in the rest of the season.
He is being offered as a makeweight as United attempt to bring in Paulo Dybala from Juventus, having already agreed a record-breaking fee for Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire.