36.6 km/h! Sporting sign player set to be the league's fastest | OneFootball

Nestory Irankunda will be officially presented this Thursday as Sporting’s eighth signing for 2026/27, after already completing his medical examinations. Upon arriving in Lisbon, the Australian gave journalists one guarantee: “I’m a very fast player.” And the numbers back it up.

The 20-year-old winger has already reached 36.3 km/h in tests carried out with the Australian national team and managed to improve that mark even further at Watford. In the last Championship season, Irankunda hit 36.6 km/h in the draw against Sheffield Wednesday, according to ‘Sofascore’ data.

That figure made Sporting’s new player the fastest attacker and the second-fastest footballer in the entire competition. Explosiveness and sharp acceleration are among the Australian international’s main traits, and he first began to stand out at Adelaide United before making the leap to Bayern Munich.

Looking at Portuguese football, few players are capable of getting close to these numbers. Touaizi, of Alverca, reached 36.2 km/h against Vitória de Guimarães, while within the Sporting squad itself, Luis Suárez comes closest to Nestory Irankunda, with top speeds around 36 km/h.

Sporting’s SAD invested €15 million to sign him from Watford, a fee that could rise to €18 million depending on objectives met. Rui Borges thus gains a winger with characteristics different from the club’s other attacking options and an ability to accelerate that is hard to match.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.