EIGHT-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt’s agent has confirmed the sprint king could be on his way to the A-League — and it’s caused a giant kerfuffle in Australian football.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph reports that Bolt, 31, is set for a six-week trial with the Central Coast Mariners starting next month with a season-long deal on the table should he make the grade.

Bolt, a Manchester United fan who attended Sunday’s World Cup final in Moscow, retired from the track after the world championships in London last year. He has since trialled with German giants Borussia Dortmund and Stromsgodset in Norway.

“Apart from him obviously being extremely fast the feedback we have received from Germany and Norway is that he is a very good learner and shows dramatic improvement after every training session,” Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp told the Telegraph.

“This is a very real football opportunity, this is not a stunt or gimmick — we want to know if Usain can play.

“If he can, let’s light up the A-League and bring one of the biggest named athletes in sport to the Central Coast.”

Bolt’s agent Tony Rallis hinted the deal could now come down to whether the FFA is also prepared to come to the party and top-up Bolt’s potential salary.

“The deal between the Mariners and Usain Bolt in principle has been agreed, subject to a couple of benchmarks,” Rallis told the Big Sports Breakfast on Tuesday.

“Mainly, a trial, and of course marquee funds support from the FFA.

“Once the FFA comes back and says that they’ll be part of the process, we’re going to the trial.

“If he’s competitive, he will lift our A-League profile,” Rallis said.

“He will create dreams for young people and he will give the A-League a profile no amount of money can buy.

“This bloke’s an ambitious athlete. The A-League needed a hero, and we got superman.

“The owner of Central Coast Mariners has put his hand deep in his pocket and guaranteed 70 per cent of the salary.”

Australian football commentators simply didn’t know what to make of the bombshell news with some openly mocking the approach as a publicity stunt.

Others were genuinely intrigued about Bolt’s potential in the A-League.

The Mariners signing Usain Bolt is a publicity stunt aimed at drawing in slack jawed yokels and I am one of those slack jawed yokels cause I will 100% go watch him play — Nick Campton (@campo37) July 16, 2018

If that Usain Bolt to the A-League yarn is true, that is wild. — Guy Heveldt (@GuyHeveldt) July 16, 2018

Can't tell you if it's #fakenews or what - perhaps @usainbolt can enlighten us? - but I'm genuinely interesting in knowing if @ALeague fans think the prospect of the Jamaican sprinter joining @CCMariners is a good idea? 🤔 — Andrew Orsatti (@AndrewOrsatti) July 16, 2018

Usain Bolt is apparently on the verge of signing a contract with Australian Football Club, Central Coast Mariners to play in the A-League.



I'll believe it when it happens but just imagine if it did.....



Not sure if I'm a fan of this but at least it'd bring more people to games. pic.twitter.com/t4u073uV4g — JΛKE BUCKLEY 🇦🇺 (@TheMasterBucks) July 16, 2018

Usain Bolt to trial with Central Coast Mariners in the A-League.



Surely just a publicity stunt, but the hope of better things to come for the league when Del Piero joined Sydney never felt so far removed. — Matt Somerford (@somerfjord) July 16, 2018

Usain Bolt trialling to play in the A-League? What an absurd publicity stunt. You can’t take a league like that seriously. pic.twitter.com/0TWPNdyoTl — AFL Integrity Unit (@IntegrityUnit) July 16, 2018

Channel 7’s Sunrise hosts laughed off the news with Sam Armytage joking, “Look out ladies of Gosford.

“Who cares if he can play. I’ll still go watch him.”

Sunrise sport presenter Mark Beretta said: “From what we’ve seen he has good skills.

“He really wants to do it. This is his thing. He’s travelling around the world to try and find the right spot. It would do him no harm to play in the A-League. That would be a good stepping stone.”

Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp told Seven the club has been working on a deal with Bolt for 4-5 months.

“It’s a little bit surreal, but we’ve still got a bit of work to do,” Mielekamp said.

“Fingers crossed things might play out. The most important thing is we find a way to see how good he is as a footballer first.

“Seducing him with the Central Coast is easy. This place is pretty beautiful. There’s still a lot of work to do to understanding how the deal would work out and how the thing would look, but things are very positive at the moment so we’re really excited.”

He also declared the approach is no gimmick and said the club will only go ahead with the signing if Bolt proves himself during the trial.

“From our perspective it will only be big if he can play,” he said.

“The trial is really important because if he comes and he’s not up to the level then it actually has a detrimental effect.

“But if he comes and he’s as good as our reports are saying that he can be then that would be very exciting.”

“We’ve been working for 4-5 months on this” — @CCMariners CEO confirms they are in talks to sign @UsainBolt to play in the @ALeague! pic.twitter.com/zzeQxdKedN — Sunrise (@sunriseon7) July 16, 2018

— with AAP