Replace the really good top player spoken of (9)
I believe the answer is:
supersede
'replace' is the definition.
('supersede' can be a synonym of 'replace')
'the really good top player spoken of' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'top' could be 'super' (I've seen this before) and 'super' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for supersede that I've seen before include "Stop using" , "Take the place of, supplant" , "Take the place of, override" , "Supplant, replace" , "set aside" .)