Usain Bolt rejects 2-year deal with Maltese club

Usain Bolt remains on trial with the Central Coast Mariners after rejecting a two-year contract to help boost Maltese club Valletta FC’s chances of reaching the Champions League.

The 32-year-old scored twice in a trial match for the Australian side on Saturday, drawing attention across the globe to the Jamaican sprinter’s bid to earn a deal in professional soccer. Bolt’s agent has suggested his client is receiving plenty of offers aside from Valletta’s approach, so may bide his time in making a decision.

“There is a lot of interest in Usain playing football,” Ricky Simms told ESPN’s Tom Hamilton. “We regularly receive similar approaches. I can confirm Usain does not wish to pursue this opportunity in Malta.”

Valletta CEO and managing director Ghasston Slimen responded by saying an “offer is always on the table” for Bolt to join.

The A-League season begins in Australia on Friday, with the Mariners beginning their campaign two days later at Brisbane Roar. Bolt is ineligible for that fixture, and likely all the Mariners’ matches until Jan. 3, 2019, when the league’s next registration period opens. Central Coast CEO Shaun Mielekamp has been noncommittal on Bolt’s fixture in Gosford, stating “it’s too early to tell” whether the eight-time Olympic gold medalist will clinch a contract off the back of his long-term trial.

Bolt, a keen Manchester United supporter, has previously trained with the Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund and Norwegian outfit Stromsgodset, and has been a regular on the charity game circuit. His spell in Australia is the first time he has determinedly pursued a professional spell in the game, and Mielekamp insisted in July that his training with the Central Coast Mariners is “not a stunt or gimmick.”

Bolt’s involvement in warm-up games has drawn thousands of attendees, when in the past those events only drew a few hundred spectators.