The pair went head-to-head in Wolves’ 1-1 draw with the Magpies on Saturday.
Despite Willems limiting the impact of Traore, who has five goals and four assists to his name this season, he dubbed the winger ‘unbelievable’.
And Willems lavished more praise on the Barcelona academy graduate by rating him higher than Juventus forward and Real Madrid legend Ronaldo, who he faced at Euro 2012 while playing for the Netherlands.
LIVE on talkSPORT
Check out all the LIVE commentaries coming up on talkSPORT, below…
- Manchester United vs Wolves (Wednesday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT
- Fulham vs Middlesbrough (Friday, 7:45pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Watford vs Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm) – talkSPORT
- Arsenal vs Burnley (Saturday, 3pm) – talkSPORT 2
- Newcastle vs Chelsea (Saturday, 5:30pm) – talkSPORT
The 25-year-old, who is on loan at Newcastle from Eintracht Frankfurt, said: “I have played against some very good players in my career but no one quite as fast as Traore.
“He is unbelievable, definitely a beast. Not only is he incredibly fast, he is so, so strong as well.
“He’s known as the fastest man in football and now I know that is true.
“I like to think I am quite fast, too, at least I did before playing against him – that was something else.
“I have played against Ronaldo who is fast but not that fast. Of course, he is so skilful but sometimes that is easier than being up against someone with incredible pace.