Eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt is among the top 50 richest sportspersons across the globe. Even after retirement from athletics in 2017, the Jamaican sprint legend remains a much-sought-after brand, a "marketing juggernaut", as Forbes puts it.
However, Bolt is ready to sacrifice big-city comforts in a bid to realise his long-standing dream of becoming a footballer.
The 31-year-old is all set to join A-League's Central Coast Mariners for an "indefinite training period" ahead of the upcoming league season, starting in October. The decorated Olympian has not been handed a professional contract but he will be if he manages to reach the desired level, according to Mariners CEO Shaun Mielekamp.
Bolt has, in the past, expressed interest about pursuing a football career. He had insisted his dream was to play for Manchester United.
Walking the talk, the Jamaican great has had training stints at Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and Norway's Stromsgodset.
Bolt ready to sacrifice big-city comforts
However, for the upcoming stint with the Mariners, the relatively smaller club that finished last in the 10-team A-League last season, Bolt has to give up a few big-city comforts.
Mielekamp revealed that the club wanted Bolt to stay in Central Coast instead of Sydney, which is less than 100 km away from the sleepy town of New South Wales.
He added that the sprint great readily accepted the demand and also bought into the club's "community-minded ethos".
'Bolt will be residing in Central Coast'
"The same for all our players, all our players are expected to be living on the Central Coast. It's a big part of our club and we spoke to him very early doors about living and residing here in the Central Coast and he's agreed to that which is great," Mielekamp said, as quoted by Reuters.
"The one driving thing that has been through this whole thing has been his own personal passion, his own personal belief and personal desire.
"We've spoken to him about our club, what our beliefs are, we spoke to him about going down to the local school and doing school appearances and those sort of things and he's bought right into that which has been fantastic."
Looking forward to the challenge: Bolt
Meanwhile, Bolt conceded that realising his dream is not going to be easy but insisted he is someone who doesn't think about limits.
The 100m and 200m world record holder is all set to link up with the A-League club as early as later this month.
"I am very excited about coming to Australia. It has been my dream to play professional football and I know that it will involve a lot of hard work and training to get to the level required to play and make an impact in the A-League," Bolt said.
"I always say that 'anything is possible, don't think limits' and I look forward to the challenge."
