Usain Bolt has been offered a full professional contract by Australian club Central Coast Mariners, according to his agent Ricky Simms.
Bolt netted a couple of goals in his first start for the Mariners in a friendly against Macarthur South West on October 12th, but was left out of the A-League team’s first game of the new season on Sunday.
However, now it appears that the club have put their money where their mouth is with a contract for the 32-year-old Jamaican.
Simms said:
I can confirm Usain has been offered a contract by Central Coast Mariners.
After the game at the weekend, Mariners manager, Mike Mulvey, was himself asked about Bolt’s future, saying:
You have a look at our front line today and you wonder whether he could get into any of those positions, wouldn’t you?
I do appreciate how important this story is for the rest of the world.
You’re just talking about speculation. I don’t know anything about what you’re talking about and that’s the honest truth.
Bolt turned down another two-year deal from Maltese champions Valletta FC, but, if his agent is correct, the Olympic sprint legend will be using his turn of pace on the football pitch this season.
Whether or not Bolt can make his mark with the Mariners as a genuine footballer rather than a PR coup remains to be seen.