Could ex-Man Utd star Anthony Elanga compete in an Olympic 100m Final? Ex-British sprinter Darren Campbell issues telling verdict amid revelation about coaching 'interesting case' Adama Traore

In Nottingham Forest's 1-0 victory over United in midweek, winger Elanga ran 85 metres in just nine seconds before scoring the winner. Now, former British sprinter and Olympic relay gold medallist Darren Campbell has explained why the Swede wouldn't be able to go toe-to-toe with athletics’ best sprinters. He also opened up on the time he trained Fulham's Adama Traore back when the flying winger was at Middlesbrough, describing him as an "interesting case".

He told The Sports Agents podcast: "The speed that he uses is to play football, to be able to dribble, keep up with the ball. His acceleration will be quick because, again, in football, most things that you'll do is over five, 10 yards. A footballer has never come out of blocks, so that's one aspect that you're going to have to negotiate, coming from that drive position to generate the force."

Campbell added: "Traoré, before he moved to Aston Villa, we worked at Middlesbrough… He's an interesting case. How can I put it? It's like your car: you need to go through gears. So, with someone like Adama, third gear, fourth gear is enough. He’s so powerful, so quick. It was teaching him just go to fourth gear. Don’t go to fifth."

While Elanga and Traore are clearly very fleet of foot in the world of football, challenging the fastest people on the planet for speed is a step too far. There is no doubt that speed gives a player a huge advantage in many sports, however.

High-flying Forest will hope Elanga is motoring once more when they take on Aston Villa at Villa Park in the Premier League on Saturday.