(Reuters) – A video showing Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore challenging some young fans to a race in supermarket car park has been viewed more than a million times on social media.
The Spanish player, one of the fastest in the Premier League, was spotted by 12-year-old Charlie Smith and his cousins who asked the former Barcelona player for a photo.
They then got more than they bargained for as Traore asked them if any of them could run faster than him, and challenged them to a dash across the car park.
Traore showed no mercy as he sprinted ahead with the chuckling boys trailing in his wake.
“As soon as we went off, I thought ‘I might actually win this’ because he was level with us,” said Charlie Whitehouse, one of the youngsters in the video.
“But then he gave it two seconds and was off. It was great. He smoked us.”
Wolves fan and grassroots club chairman Darryl Smith, who posted the video of his son and cousins, said: “Adama actually talks to the fans and I don’t think all players do that. It’s a great connection between the players and the fans.
“What a down to earth top man!”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Robert Birsel)