One of many criticisms which came West Ham United’s way last season revolved around a lack of speed among the playing staff. This is, after all, a team which started the campaign with a snail-paced spine of Max Kilman, James Ward-Prowse, Guido Rodriguez and Niclas Fullkrug.
Jarrod Bowen may have lost a yard as he approaches ‘veteran’ status.
Crysencio Summerville and Mateus Fernandes both possess a fierce turn of pace but, as things stand, there is a chance that the duo could be reunited at Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur before the summer is out.
Adama Traore, the one-man wrecking ball, has already gone.
How much do YOU think Fernandes will be sold for in the end?
According to statistics which emerged in the spring, the fastest player at West Ham is actually Jean-Clair Todibo. The Frenchman is another who is expected to depart.
So if West Ham United were already a team lacking in real athleticism or acceleration, losing four of their quickest players in the space of one summer will not help matters.
But if reports are true and West Ham are targeting Watford and Australia starlet Nestory Irankunda, it is safe to assume they want him for his explosive speed as much as his raw potential and his penchant for a knuckleball spectacular.
Australia speedster Nestory Irankunda would bring pace to West Ham United
During his formative days at A-League outfit Adelaide United, Irankunda recorded a top speed of 37 km/h. Faster than Kyle Walker at his peak, and just shy of Usain Bolt’s top speed when he obliterated the 100-metre world record.
The Tanzania-born 20-year-old is statistically the quickest player at his current employers Watford.
During a year in the feted youth system of German giants Bayern Munich, the official Bundesliga website even drew comparisons with one of world football’s most renowned speed machines.
“Rapid, strong, always looking to take on opposition defenders and with a rocket of a shot on him, the right-footed Irankunda looks a bit like Alphonso Davies in a mirror,” they wrote.
“Their breakouts as young, exciting wingers also bear remarkably similar hallmarks. Davies’ top speed of 36.51 km/h is actually bettered by the 37 km/h mark hit by the Aussie.
“In fact, if [Irankunda] had hit that speed in the Bundesliga, it would have seen him break into the top two fastest players in German top-flight history.”
It is fair to say that, with zero Premier League starts in the second half of the campaign, Adama Traore did not live up to Nuno Espirito Santo’s expectations. Nuno obviously felt that West Ham would have benefitted from Traore’s explosive pace when he brought in his former Wolves stalwart in January.
That did not work out as hoped.
Nestory Irankunda is rapid; How much do West Ham need his SPEED? 🇦🇺
Watch the Aussie star's best moments below 👇
If West Ham really are keen to bring Irankunda to East London – the effervescent Aussie is ten years Adama’s junior – one suspects that the role Nuno earmarked for Traore would be inherited by a man who scored Australia’s first goal at the 2026 World Cup.
Irankunda would bring searing pace to the London Stadium
Australian journalist Vince Rugari revealed West Ham’s interest shortly after Irankunda raced onto a long ball, checked inside Turkey’s Merih Demiral and finished coolly past Ugurcan Cakur.
‘Exhilarating, unpredictable and audacious’ is how Rugari describes him.
Now, his end product clearly needs work. Irankunda scored only four times in the Championship for Watford last season. Although, what he lacks in consistency, he occasionally makes up for with sheer spectacle.
See his thumping free-kick and subsequent somersault during a 2-2 draw with Southampton.
Nuno signed a 22-year-old Adama Traore from Middlesbrough in 2018 and turned him into one of the most effective, unique weapons in the whole of the Premier League. If the Hammers boss can hone Irankunda’s talents in a similar vein, there may be no limit to the heights he can reach and the pace he can run.
“[It] doesn’t matter what level of football you’re playing,” former Australia coach Ange Postecoglou told ITV Sport following Irankunda’s sumptuous solo effort against Turkey. “If you have this kind of speed, you’re always going to be a threat.”
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