Rallis told AAP the FFA would need to cough up $900,000 from its marquee fund of $3 million if the club decides the sprinter is worth signing for a season. ‘‘Once the FFA comes back and says that they’ll be part of the process, we’re going to the trial.’’ A spokesman for the FFA would not say whether the governing body would contribute to a potential contract. "FFA is not funding this trial," the spokesman told Fairfax Media. The eight-time Olympic gold medalist has been in negotiations for four to five months with the Central Coast club to take part in a six-week trial, Mariners chief executive Shaun Mielekamp said.

"There’s still a lot of work to do in regards to understanding exactly how the deal would work out and how things would look, but things are very positive at the moment so we’re really excited that looks like a good six week trial period that we’ll be able to facilitate," Mielekamp told Sunrise. "And if all goes well, who knows, he might be lighting up the A-League this season." Mielekamp said the deal was getting closer to reality, but there was still "a bit more work to do". "The most important thing is is that we find a way to see how good he is as a footballer first," he said.

Rallis told Channel Nine Bolt was serious about becoming a soccer player. “He is dead-set serious to be the best he can possibly be. We think that his best will be enough to play or play a part in an A-League competition,” he said. Bolt is the world record-holder for the 100-metre and 200-metre sprints, but retired from athletics in 2017. "I've just done everything I wanted to do in the sport," Bolt told Reuters in February that year. Loading

The 31-year-old champion sprinter has not commented publicly on the deal himself. In September 2017 he told Fairfax Media he wanted to just "be a bum" for a while, but said he was not ruling out a "Floyd Mayweather comeback" and flagged soccer as a sport of interest. "Not fighting, no, the sport it could be is football - as a massive Man[chester] United fan, we'll see," he said. His trial with the Mariners would not be his first run at becoming a professional soccer player. In May, Bolt trained with Norwegian team Stromsgodset, and he trialled with German side Borussia Dortmund in March. Mielekamp told News Corp Bolt's previous trials showed the track star had potential.