Central Coast Mariners believed to have offered Usain Bolt an A-League contract

The Central Coast Mariners are believed to have tabled a played contract to sprint legend Usain Bolt’s management.

Usain Bolt leaves a training session with the Central Coast Mariners

Central Coast Mariners have moved one step closer to signing Usain Bolt, with the A-League club believed to have tabled a played contract to the sprint legend’s management.

The offer is understood to have been made by Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp this weekend. Bolt was in Melbourne considering his options, while the Mariners are away for their first game of the season to the Brisbane Roar tonight.

The Jamaican, 32, has also been reportedly offered a two-year deal by Maltese club Valletta FC.

It is unclear how much money has been offered or how long the contract the Mariners have offered is or if Football Federation Australia would contribute any marquee top-up funding. But the offer is a potential game-changer for Bolt.

He could accept the offer or he could decided to hold out for a better offer from the Mariners or another club overseas.

The Australian approached Bolt’s management, who said they would not comment on the deal. Mielekamp would not deny the offer when contacted this afternoon, saying: “I can’t comment … and I want to concentrate on the game (against the Roar).”

Mariners coach Mike Mulvey claimed after his team’s 1-1 draw with Brisbane that he had heard nothing of an offer, casting doubt on where he would use Bolt should a deal be struck.

“You have a look at our front line today and you wonder whether he could get into any of those positions. Wouldn’t you?” he said.

“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 God’s honest truth.”

Bolt has been trialling with the A-League club since August and has had a total of 140 minutes of football over three trial matches. He retired from athletics after the 2017 World Championships, having won nine Olympic gold medals in a stellar career.

He reportedly rejected the Maltese offer in order to try to prove his worth to the Mariners, and it has been suggested Bolt has also been the subject of other multi-year offers from European clubs.

Despite his age, Bolt captured the imagination of the sporting world when he scored a brace of goals in a trial match in Sydney on the eve of the A-League season with the video highlights of the goals attracting more than six million hits on the Mariners’ official Twitter account.

But Bolt has also been the subject of heavy criticism from several football identities who have questioned his acumen and whether his potential move was a publicity stunt to help inject some excitement into an A-League that has suffered a decline in ratings and attendances in recent years.

Western Sydney Wanders coach Markus Babbel, a former star player for Germany and English Premier League giants Liverpool, said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick he had big doubts over Bolt’s football abilities.

“As a PR action it is sensational,” Babbel told Blick. “The A-League receives much attention from him. But, honestly, I cannot take that seriously. I saw him play. For all that love, that’s not enough in 100 years.”

Former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has also cast doubt on Bolt’s chances of succeeding in the A-League.

Postecoglou, who won back-to-back A-League titles as coach of Brisbane Roar, said “good on” Bolt for trying but the 53-year-old was quick to underline the scale of his task.

“It seems to have got some good attention for Central Coast Mariners, the club there,” Postecoglou, now coaching Japanese club Yokohama, told local media. “But beyond that I’ve always believed that football is one of those sports that’s very, very difficult to just change from one to the other. “If you haven’t done it from a very small age and hone your technique and skills, (it’s) very, very difficult at a later age to switch to our sport and play at the highest level.”

But former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer recently told ESPN he thought Bolt was a “good chance” to be offered a deal. “I think he’s got a good chance, purely because he’s been there for so long,” Schwarzer said. “They think he’s got something and that’s why they’ve also got him there.”

Schwarzer watched Bolt’s two-goal showing in the trial against Macarthur South West United and said while he had “got a lot of work to do still,” he’s showing “talent” and “promise.”

“The big question is at his age and his stage of life, whether he’s going to improve enough to warrant a contract in the A-League,” Schwarzer said.