Usain Bolt offered deal by Maltese Champions League hopefuls
Ambitious Maltese football club Valletta FC want to be taking on the likes of Manchester United and Barcelona within 12 months, and they want eight-time Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Usain Bolt to help them.
Currently trialling with A-League club the Central Coast Mariners, Bolt has been offered a two-year deal by Valletta's Abu Dhabi-based ownership group, Sanban Investment Group.
The new owners took control of the club in September, and have aspirations to qualify for Europe's showpiece club competition, the UEFA Champions League by next season.
Valletta FC chief executive officer Ghasston Slimen has told the ABC he has been inspired by Bolt's journey so far, and wants to take his journey to professional football to the next level.
"This is about writing history," Mr Slimen said.
"Usain Bolt broke the record in Beijing in 2008 [running 9.69 seconds in the final of the 100 metres, a record he later improved on], and I have followed him for the last year-and-a-half on his football journey.
"We play the final of the Super Cup on December 13, which we will win, because we play Balzan who we beat in the league, so can you imagine Usain Bolt lifting the Super Cup trophy 10 years after he broke the record in Beijing?
"It will be history and it should happen.
"We will treat him as a player, we will have him training specifically without media and he's not going to be treated as a runner, he will be treated as a footballer.
"We want to offer him a two-year contract so he will relax, and so he knows he won't be going anywhere.
"This isn't about money, this is about history. This is something that they will talk about in 50 or 100 years' time," Mr Slimen said.
Bolt scored two goals for the Mariners in his most recent appearance for the club, a 4-0 friendly win over an amateur team from south-western Sydney last Friday night.
It was just his second hit-out for the Mariners, and while Slimen admits Bolt's footballing skills remain a work in progress, he is excited by the potential.
"They [Central Coast Mariners] are the ones who are inspiring me. I have followed his training and his games," Mr Slimen said.
"The first half was catastrophic, he made a lot of mistakes, but the finish for his first goal was really good.
"What pushed me was how much he wanted it. The celebrations made me realise that he is really passionate about it. What inspired me was the way he celebrated his goal.
"I don't want him to be here on holiday, I want him training hard.
"We have seven international players in our squad, so we would have to drop one of them if he was good enough to play in matches, and a lot of them have also been scoring for their country, so it will be very hard," Mr Slimen said.
A deal was officially tabled to Bolt's Australian management on Saturday, and Mr Slimen wants the 32-year-old to link up with the current Maltese Premier League champions as soon as possible.
"We want him as soon as possible, to get him in the squad," he said.
"I don't want to make a big fuss, I want him to sign the contract, get on the flight, arrive in Malta and train, because we need to prepare for the Super Cup.
"We will need three weeks to register him with the Maltese FA and he would probably play three to four games before the Super Cup.
"He's 32, I don't want him to be 33 by the time he comes to Malta.
"I think he could play for two or three years for our club, he is 32 but I don't want him to just play football, I want him to lift trophies."
Whilst Bolt is yet to earn a contract at the Central Coast, the ABC understands the A-League battlers do have the first right of refusal if the superstar sprinter is offered a contract elsewhere.
They remain unconvinced that is the case at this stage.
"At the moment, what is out there is very clearly agent-driven to try to pressure the club into making a decision," a Mariners spokesperson said.
As for Ghasston Slimen and Valletta FC, the dream appears very real.
"This is not only Usain's dream and imagination, this is the dream of others all over the world as well, including mine," Mr Slimen said.
"If we make it to the group stage, we have to be playing big teams. Manchester United, City, Barcelona, Real Madrid.
"Can you imagine us playing these big teams in Champions League with Usain Bolt in our squad or on the bench? This is big.
"I am interested in making this an historic moment.
"I cannot forget that image of him lifting the Super Cup by himself, 10 years after Beijing.
"That image is what's motivating me to do this."
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