If Alex Ferguson says that he’s planning on giving Usain Bolt a chance to play for Manchester United, you better believe it’s going to happen and the wheels are already in motion. No, not this season, and no plans for a contract at the moment, but even a charity match is a good starting point.
After Bolt’s three gold medal performance in London, he spoke about his desire to play for Manchester United, surprisingly getting warm reaction back from Ferguson and the Red Devils, giving everyone at least the illusion that something like this might happen in the near future, although it doesn’t look like Bolt is planning on retiring from his track career anytime soon.
Ferguson thinks that giving Bolt a chance to impress, a trial if you’d like, is best suited for next summer’s charity match against Real Madrid, the annual Corazon Classic. Playing against the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos should prove quite a temptation, although the match comes two months before the Athletics World Championships in Moscow, which might prove to be a splinter in the plans of both the player and the manager.
Usain’s a character and a big United fan. It’s interesting he says he’d like to play in a charity game. It could be brilliant, and next year when we play Real Madrid’s Legends again, so there could be opportunities to bring him up and see how he does.
Bolt, who makes about $20 million a year from endorsements might be, at least on a short term basis, quite the cash cow for United and for his own bank account by joining the side, arguably the most popular football team in the world, but moving away from his track career and actually doing what he’s best at would probably result in a gradual decrease in fame. Maybe taking a year or two off to try and fulfill his football passion is an option, although that’s taking a huge risk, knowing that when he does return to the sprinting world, it’ll have progressed and left him behind.