Usain Bolt believes Gareth Bale is the fastest football player in the world, but the 100metre world-record holder says he can make the Real Madrid winger even quicker.

Bale clocked an incredible 40kmh during Real Madrid’s draw with Villarreal in his debut - almost 25mph, just 2mph behind Bolt’s world-record speed.

Despite expressing concerns over his fitness due to a lack of pre-season, the Wales star’s best burst of pace came on the hour in that 1-1 draw against Villarreal when he made a 20m dash down the right-hand side before pulling the ball back from the byline and crashing into the advertising hoardings at the Madrigal stadium.

And 100m Olympic and world champion Bolt says the Jamaican will teach Bale how to run even faster if the player and Real Madrid want him to.

‘I think Gareth is probably the fastest player in the world at the moment - but I will help him with his sprinting if he wants,’ Bolt said.

The world’s fastest man added that he trained with Bale’s new team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo in a session too, and is clearly willing to do the same for the former Tottenham man.