17 Jul Usain Bolt management confident he is “A-League standard”

Central Coast Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp says Usain Bolt’s dramatic improvement over the past year will hold him in good stead for his potential trial with the A-League outfit.

The Mariners confirmed the club have been in negotiations with Bolt’s management about offering the Olympic champion and world record holder the opportunity to partake in a six week trial, before deciding whether to offer the Jamaican a professional contract.

Mielekamp believes the prospect of Bolt playing in the A-League is a very exciting one and revealed how the negotiations began to bring the iconic sprinter to Gosford.

“We know he’s fast and that he’s been training for well over 12 months for some of the biggest clubs in Europe such as Borussia Dortmund and a club over in Norway,” he told SEN’s Whateley.

“During those training sessions he has dramatically improved over his time with each of those clubs to the point where he’s management are very confident that he’ll pass the trial and that he’ll be up to A-League standard.

“The agent for our head coach had a connection with his agent and they’ve been speaking for quite some time. Over that period they flagged that the A-League is the right one and came to be that the Central Coast Mariners is possibly the right fit for him.

“This won’t work if he’s not up to the level, he’ll become a gimmick and that’s not what this is about. We need players who are going to help us win games and if Usain can add to that then this is a very exciting proposition.

“That’s the model that we’re looking for.

“We’re looking for someone who can light up the A-League for the entire season and we need to prove that that’s going to happen.

“He wants to become a professional footballer. That’s what’s kept us excited and intrigued in this is how dedicated he is into proving himself that he is capable of that.”

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The Mariners chief is confident there will be an element of trust shown by Bolt’s management with the news of the 31-year-old’s possible trial potentially pricking the ears of cashed up clubs around the world.

“We have no doubt that this is global news and this is huge,” Mielekamp said.

“It’ll only be a sugar hit if we force it and he’s not up to the standard, this only works for us if he can play at the level that we need him to.

“We’re in a position where we’ve been working on this for a long time so we’re confident there will be a lot of trust in the negotiations that we’ve done.

“We’re aware that other clubs have been in the conversation, we’re confident at the moment that we’re the front runner and that’s because we’ve put his football as the priority, not just the marketing capability of him.”

If the negotiations are successful, Bolt’s six week trial will begin in late August.

Source: SEN Soccer