Mariners’ Bolt shout-out alerts prospective suitors

Central Coast Mariners now face a battle just to get their mooted six-week trial with Usain Bolt over the line.

Usain Bolt looks on during a Dortmund training session in March. Picture: Getty Images

The publicity blitz around Usain Bolt’s proposed trial at the Central Coast Mariners could cost the A-League club the opportunity to cash in on the Jamaican sprint star’s switch to football.

Clubs from around the world have been alerted to the potential riches on offer by signing Bolt, with the Mariners now facing a battle just to get their mooted six-week trial over the line.

It is understood teams in Turkey, Hungary and the United States are among those to have entered the race for the eight-time Olympic champion. Some of them are keen to offer Bolt a contract straight away, rather than put him through his paces first as the Mariners intend to do.

Central Coast CEO Shaun Mielekamp is set to fly to London this weekend in an attempt to seal the deal with Bolt, his long-time agent Ricky Simms and Australian intermediary Tony Rallis, who first floated the 31-year-old’s availability to A-League clubs.

Simms says the Mariners were only one of a number of options on the table for Bolt.

Mielekamp will also meet Mike Phelan, the Mariners’ new football director, who will reportedly be responsible for overseeing the trial if it happens. If it doesn’t, the Mariners have at least got their name out there. Independent media monitoring analysis conducted by the club has shown 130 million people read about Bolt’s link in the 30 hours following the revelations. It would have cost them $4.5 million to buy the same amount of media coverage that was generated.

Some have dismissed it as a brazen publicity stunt while Football Federation Australia, who has been asked to tip in around $900,000 from its marquee player fund in the event Bolt was to succeed in his trial, has reacted somewhat coolly to the prospect.

“It’s completely random,” Brisbane Roar striker Adam Taggart said when asked about Bolt’s potential A-League move.

“But I guess if that’s what Central Coast are keen to do, then that’s what they’re keen to do.

“It’d obviously be pretty interesting to have a character like that in the league. I’m just happy I’m not a defender having to run against him if he does come.”

• Melbourne City have boosted their midfield ranks with the signing of former Perth Glory skipper Rostyn Griffiths on a two-season A-League deal.

Griffiths left the Glory at the end of last season to link up with Uzbek outfit Pakhtakor Tashkent, but cut short his contract after making just nine appearances for the club.

The 30-year-old will add more steel and experience to City’s midfield, which already features Luke Brattan, Anthony Caceres, Dario Vidosic and Riley McGree.

Griffiths joins Caceres, McGree, Lachlan Wales and Scottish forward Michael O’Hallorans as City’s off-season recruits.

Meanwhile, Brisbane Roar have confirmed the signing of 21-year-old defensive utility Stefan Nigro, who was released by Melbourne Victory despite featuring in their grand final-winning team last season.

Victory have recruited German defender Georg Niedermeier on a one-year deal subject to a medical when the 32-year-old arrives in Melbourne next week.

Niedermeier has played his entire career to date in his homeland and previously formed a strong centre-back partnership at VfB Stuttgart with Frenchman Matthieu Delpierre, a former Victory favourite.

It is an important piece of recruitment for coach Kevin Muscat’s side after the recent departures of Rhys Williams (Saudi Arabia) and James Donachie (South Korea).

AAP