Usain Bolt wants to be a professional footballer.
We’ve all heard it, we’ve all had a good giggle over it, but the Olympic gold medallist is deadly serious about it.
Expected to undergo a trial with Borussia Dortmund in September, Bolt has previously explained he wanted to ‘play at Wayne Rooney’s level’, something many Manchester United fans will joke isn’t exactly difficult these days.
At the time, however, it was simply seen as something the very cocky athlete said, without many thinking too much about it.
Speaking to So Foot in France, Bolt explained himself and what he meant by that.
He said: “When I said that, people thought it was disrespectful, but that wasn’t the case. Wayne Rooney is a very good footballer, no doubt, but meant to say was that he isn’t at the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi or Neymar. He’s not part of the crème de la crème.
“I think he’s in the top 50 in the world, and I want to be in the top 50 if I’m given the chance and get to play regularly. That’s what I meant by wanting to play at his level. If I have a real go at football, I can be a forward who scores at least 20 goals a season”.
At 30 years of age, it seems highly unrealistic for someone to break into the world of professional football and have the impact Bolt believes he can have, regardless of how impressive an athlete he is, even if he thinks he can play ‘for four years, at least’.
Still, armed with a ‘canon’ left-foot, ‘a good football intelligence’ and a lot of desire, Bolt is determined to give it a go.
We’ll have to wait until September to find out if he can do it, though.
