Close to Botafogo, Lucas Villalba is one of the fastest players in the world

Botafogo is looking for speed players for next season. The club therefore recruited striker Lucas Villalba, 24, from Nacional-URU. The athlete’s explosion is impressive. In May this year, he reached the 38.38 km/h mark, surpassing the world record held by Micky Van de Ven (37.38 km/h). He thus became the fastest player in the world.

The speed of 38.38 km/h recorded by Lucas Villalba was recorded during a Nacional-URU match against Atlético Nacional at the Libertadores, which established him as one of the fastest players in the world. He was behind the Brazilian Gabriel Silva, originally from Santa Clara. The youngster from Palmeiras reached a speed of 40.3 km/h during the match against Famalicão, valid for the 33rd day of the Portuguese Championship.

With this feat, Botafogo’s probable reinforcement approaches another level: the legendary mark of 44.72 km/h reached by Usain Bolt, the fastest man on the planet and holder of the 100 meter world record in athletics.

The most striking feature of his game is his explosion in long sprints. Villalba is one of those wingers who easily gains ground and carries the ball quickly with good coordination. Its long stride allows for consistent passing, which is particularly useful in quick transitions and counter-attacks. After all, the player is 1.82m tall.

Botafogo seeks examples from 2024

If he agrees with Botafogo, Villalba arrives as a player capable of offering depth, which is what the club is looking for. The board of directors in fact wants an athlete with characteristics similar to those of Luiz Henrique or Almada, who shone in 2024. His style therefore fits as an immediate option to explore spaces, accelerate counterattacks and add strength to the offensive sector.

“He’s a winger who plays on the right side and we understand that he’s an athlete who can bring what we didn’t have this year, which is a little depth, attack in space. We’ve had a lot of that in recent years,” director Alessandro Brito told “ESPN.”

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