The Portsmouth star hitting world highs as former Cardiff City and Norwich City man's season soars

Josh Murphy’s goals and assists this term has underlined why John Mousinho placed so much stock in bringing in his former team-mate, as a free agent last summer

Murphy’s weekend assist at Preston took his total for the season to 10 supplemented by a further six goals, as his goal contributions underline a powerful campaign.

It’s been a success story built on searing pace, which has opposing defenders struggling to contend with the former Cardiff and Norwich man’s supply from the left flank.

And just why that turn of foot has rivals desperately foundering, is underlined by the performance statistics surrounding Murphy’s speed on the pitch.

According to data available for 2024, the 30-year-old is ranked as the eighth quickest player in WORLD football.

Football resource, Transfer Room, has pulled together the top speeds from players across the world - and Murphy makes it into the top 10.

That probably isn’t too much of a surprise who watch the winger flying up and down the pitch each week, with recovery sprints a feature of his game along with the work on the front foot.

But to make it into the world’s top 10 still underlines what a huge asset Murphy’s speed offers Pompey.

On Transfer Room’s top-10 list, they use the player’s top recorded speed in km/h to organise the players with Japanese central defender Naoki Hayashi 10th at 36.5km/h.

Murphy comes in marginally quicker at 36.6km/h and shares eighth spot on the list with Colombian Juan David Cuesta, who plays in his home country for Once Caldas.

His fellow Colombian Didier Moreno (seventh, 36.8km/h), Kensuke Nagai (sixth, 36.9 km/h), Brazilian Gabriel Tigrao and Sweden’s Herman Johansson (fourth, 37.0km/h) come next.

Japan’s Yudai Kimura (37.1 km/h) finished third on the lift with a jump to the two quickest players in the world last year in LA Galaxy winger Joseph Paintsil and Peterborough’s Ricky Jade-Jones, who both clocked a searing 37.6km/h.

Murphy fairs favourably to data used to record player’s speeds in the Premier League this season, with only two players going quicker to date.

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Spurs’ Micky van de Ven is top of the pile at 37.1km/h and Matheus Nunes second (36.7km/h) with the Pompey man sharing the same time as Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo and Wolves’ Carlos Forbs (36.6km/h).

According to Zonal Sports, there’s a little bit of distance for Murphy to travel to clock the fastest time achieved by a player. That honour goes to France’s Kylian Mbappe, who has reportedly hit 38km/h with Van de ven second at 37.38km/h.

The Pompey man is close to breaking into that list, however, with 10th spot surprisingly taken by Ipswich defender Dara O’Shea at 36.73 - just 0.13km/h quicker than Murphy.

YOUR NEXT POMPEY READ: How Portsmouth’s Preston show of force made EFL mark.