Pro dream all but over for Usain Bolt

Usain Bolt’s future at the Central Coast Mariners is set to be decided within the next two weeks.

Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt is looking for a seven-figure deal to stay in the A-League. Picture: AFP

The Usain Bolt experiment is drawing to its inevitable conclusion with the Jamaican superstar to be a notable absentee from Central Coast Mariners training again this week.

The Australian understands Bolt will continue to work out on his own and nowhere near the Mariners training complex — as he did last week — while the club and his management continue to thrash out the finer details regarding his possible exit.

Bolt was in Melbourne last week when the Mariners opened their season with a draw against Brisbane Roar and is due to fly overseas for a prearranged sponsorship commitment sometime next month.

That has heightened suggestions his situation will likely be resolved within the next two weeks, possibly after the Mariners away game to Melbourne Victory on November 11. There is every indication that, unless there is a massive turnaround from the club, his dream of becoming a professional footballer, in the A-League at least, is over.

Bolt has gone underground and has not done any media since it was revealed the Mariners had made an offer, believed to be around $100,000, for him to sign with the club. Not surprisingly, it was rejected by his management given it falls considerably short of the mooted $3 million deal they had been looking at.

It was then decided that the eight-time Olympic champion would stay away from Mariners training to allow the team to focus on the Roar game without the distraction of the media circus that would have eventuated around Bolt and the offer.

While Bolt scored a brace against a South West Sydney select side almost a month ago, he has made little impact in terms of convincing fans, and the Mariners, about his football ability.

A number of current and former players, as well as some coaches, have expressed the view he is not up to the standard of the A-League. Meanwhile, recent Melbourne City recruit Kearyn Baccus says he has settled in quickly at the club and is looking forward to a new chapter in his so far controversial career.

The midfielder signed with the Victorians just two weeks before the start of the new season after being granted a release by Western Sydney.

A talented player, Baccus’s antics off the field have stifled his progress.

He was involved in an incident near Sydney Airport (he was subsequently cleared) in January 2017 before he walked out on the team the night before a game against Perth Glory in February after his request for a transfer to a club in South Korea had been turned down.

Baccus and the club then agreed to a mutual termination of his contract not long after he was caught throwing his jersey to the ground in the dressing room tunnel after being subbed in an FFA Cup match, ironically against Melbourne City, last month.

“A lot of stuff has happened in the past and I needed a fresh start,” Baccus said yesterday when asked about his move to City. “I am happy they have given me a start.

“From day one here I have felt comfortable, I am grateful to be here and I am hoping to win something with the club.”

Baccus said he has had no issues fitting in with his new teammates.

“I am 27 now and have been in and out my whole life, so it doesn’t faze me. I just try and work as hard as I can,” he added. “Working with the coach (Warren Joyce) has been very good.”