How Tottenham's Micky van de Ven became the Premier League's fastest EVER player

Time spent getting to know the thunderbolt of Tottenham revealed a rise equally as rapid, though Micky van de Ven’s sprint to stardom was not without the odd stumble, a particularly painful one arriving at 16 years old when told he lacked the speed to succeed.

It is a ludicrous tale — how a club in the Dutch second division came so close to discarding the defender now testing the shutter speeds of photographers’ cameras at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Today, he holds the Premier League record as its fastest-ever player, previously clocked at 23.23mph. Back then, he supposedly smuggled lead in his socks, a story which Van de Ven’s father, Marcel, related to Mail Sport this week.

‘When the Volendam trainer said, “You’re not fast enough and not good enough”, I understood that a kid who’s 16 might think, “That’s it. I’m done. I have to go”,’ Marcel said, speaking from his native Netherlands.

‘But I told him, “This is the best message they are ever going to give you. You know you can play, so play. If you think they are going to send you away, just play. And if they send you away, I will bring you to the club where you can play with your friends. But for now, go on. Do what you like. Do what you love. Do what you want. Live your dream”.

‘When he had that message from the trainer, he was disappointed. At the time, if he wanted to go to the cafe with his friends, I’d say to him, “OK mate, if you want to be the king of the cafe this evening, you can do that. But when you go on with training and you follow your dreams, later you will be the king of all the cafes in Holland”. He began to smile.’

Tottenham are the beneficiaries of this smiling sprinter’s resolve, with one club insider revealing that they beat Liverpool to sign the