Stats Reveal Surprise Name as Manchester United's Fastest Player of the Season

Manchester United ended August with three wins, 10 goals scored and three clean sheets, and most of their success could be put down to the fact that they harbour destructive, blistering pace in their ranks on both the break, and chasing back to defend.

Premier League statisticians Opta - according to a report published by Manchester Evening News - have gauged the top five fastest Red Devils players so far this season, with some rather surprising faces being thrown into the mix.

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At number 5 is Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has managed to reach a grand speed of 33.68km/h. The Armenian has supposedly started his second season at Old Trafford quicker than his first in the number 10 role.

Mkhitaryan has already managed to supply his teammates with five assists this term, that's the same as he mustered throughout the entirety of the previous campaign, and his influence in the centre of the park splitting the opposition at pace will of huge value to Jose Mourinho's title push.

Centre-half Phil Jones - who has been one of England's finest defenders thus far - occupies the fourth spot on the breakdown with a speed of 33.8km/h, somewhat surprisingly so, as it's usually presumed that potent mobility is further up the field, rather than in the defensive third.

But, with Jones on the field, it's a sheer nightmare for opposing attacks, as the 25-year-old is a natural ball hound, and knows how to cover the turf in order to thwart goal-scoring opportunities at an extremely high velocity indeed.

Lifting the bronze award in third is none other than United's illusive teenage sensation Marcus Rashford, who's managed to clock 34.27km/h. Many would have believed that the 19-year-old would have topped the pile after seeing him leave wing-backs helpless on the flanks, but it's purely not to be.

Rashford, being the youngest in the pack, is still developing physically, however, so perhaps in three years or so he'll be perched unopposed at the top of the club's standings. 

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34.56km/h is what second placed Romelu Lukaku has managed to reach whilst marauding past hapless centre-halves this season, and his position in the rankings is possibly the least surprising of the lot.

He and Rashford on the counter are potentially the divisions most potent outlet, and in the coming weeks, as their bond strengthens, the fluidity past the halfway line will become evermore fruitful.

But now, the top-dog is to be revealed, and though he appears to be cool, calm and collected on the pitch, he evidently poses a huge threat with his remarkable pace on and off the ball, and that man is Paul Pogba, who's reached a searing 34.68 km/h.

The French play-maker's vision is imperious, his passing is astute, but now it seems that his speed is indomitable, and being that he sits just behind the attacking contingent on match day, it just goes to show how much influential athleticism the 'Special One' truly has at his disposal in his formidable set-up at the Theatre of Dreams.