According to an ESPN report, former Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt has received a contract from Maltese soccer club Valletta FC that could see him play with the Champions League hopefuls for two years.
The deal comes just days after Bolt made headlines by scoring two goals during a preseason friendly for the Central Coast Mariners against Macarthur South West, the first start Bolt had made for the A-League club.
Bolt Shows Remarkable Progress in Training
Bolt is best known for winning eight gold medals for Jamaica at the Summer Olympics, and currently holds the world record in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes. In August, he joined Central Coast on a trial in the hopes of winning a contract from the club. After coming on as a substitute as a winger in a previous friendly, he scored twice from a central striking role on Friday to show just how far he has developed as a soccer player during the preseason.
“I’ve been working, trying to get fit to the level that I can play for 45 minutes,” Bolt told the Central Coast official website. “To me, I played well and happy with the progress I’m making. I was telling myself if I got the guy off my shoulders, set up myself and hit the target, that was the key thing.”
That performance apparently captured the attention of at least one team halfway around the world. Valletta FC managing director and CEO Ghasston Slimen told ESPN on Monday that they would like to add the 32-year-old to their roster ahead of their Maltese Super Cup match on Dec. 13, when they will take on Balzan.
New Investors See Big Future for Valletta
Valletta is a small club with big plans to increase their stature in European soccer. The club has won the Maltese Premier League 24 times, and has made regular appearances in the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League, though they have almost always been bounced from the competition in the first preliminary round.
But in September, Valletta was taken over by the Sanban Group. The Abu Dhabi-based investors have said that they plan to make a number of quality signings in the months to come in order to strengthen the squad, hopefully putting the team on a level where they can work towards competing against stronger European competition.
It’s unclear exactly how Valletta sees Bolt: as a pure publicity stunt, or as someone who could potentially add depth to their lineup as they transition into spending more money on high-quality players. Either way, Slimen says his club is happy to bring in a player with Bolt’s pedigree.
“A champion is always welcome and at Valletta FC we believe nothing is impossible,” he told ESPN.
While Bolt has played soccer since he was a child, he has never before attempted to compete at the sport on a professional level. The retired sprinter has one obvious ability that any coach on the planet would like to see on the pitch: his speed will be a weapon at any level, even if his other soccer skills are only mediocre.
At the moment, Bolt hasn’t responded to the Valletta contract offer. Central Coast has yet to decide whether they will sign the 32-year-old permanently, but released a statement saying that nothing has changed for them in regards to Bolt at the moment.
“Usain Bolt will continue his indefinite training period with the Central Coast Mariners until any further notice,” team CEO Shaun Mielekamp said in a statement released Tuesday. “The club will be making no comment on media speculation regarding the future of Usain Bolt.”
