Héctor Bellerín: Tests prove that I am faster than Theo Walcott

Héctor Bellerín has revealed that he has overthrown Theo Walcott as the fastest player in the club over a 40m stretch.

The young Spaniard, who has recently made it into the Arsenal first team following an injury to Mathieu Debuchy, is among the fastest players at the club which boasts the likes of Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sánchez, and Chuba Akpom.

However, recent tests reveal that he is the fastest among the lot, which should act as a warning sign for opposition players, especially as the Spaniard is mostly deployed on the right behind the pacy Walcott.

Bellerín revealed that he had to work on his speed to reach his new level, and that he is grateful to the conditioning coach for the additional training sessions that elevated his potential and he is currently showing on the football pitch.

"There are some people who are just born quick and some people that are born slower. But I worked a lot on my speed and power with the conditioning coach last year – that's something which has helped me a lot," Bellerín told Arsenal's official website.

"The work that you don't see, in the shadows, really shows on the pitch. My time over 40 metres was the fastest. It's something I didn't expect – we were just having a test and then they told me I was the fastest at the club. It's nice to be able to say that I'm the quickest player," he added.

The former Barcelona man was also grateful to Watford, where he was sent on loan, for the strides he made under former Chelsea player Gianfranco Zola. The 19-year-old made his first start for the Gunners against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League and scored his first senior goal against Aston Villa in their 5-0 drubbing at the Emirates.

"Watford was a really good experience, especially with Gianfranco Zola as a coach – I learned a lot from him. It was just about getting involved in professional football for the first time, getting experience in the Championship and he played me since the first day.

"I'm really grateful and I call him sometimes to thank him because he was the one that gave me the chance and trusted me. I had a really good time over there and lots of people think that I had to come back because I wasn't playing, but it was a really positive experience for me," Bellerín concluded.