Usain Bolt’s desire to make the switch to from track to football (soccer) has been well documented for some time now with suiting up for the Manchester United Red Devils as his ultimate goal.
While he may not be jumping straight to one of the most prestigious clubs in the history of the sport, he’s settling for a pretty good consolation prize: Bundesliga powerhouse Borussia Dortmund.
As shocking as it is that a 30-year old 9 time gold medalist would be making a sport change at this stage, and to a Champions League caliber club for that matter, it seems to be the case… kind of.
Puma coincidentally is the chief sponsor of both BVB and Bolt and the German sportswear brand’s CEO, Bjorn Gulden, also happens to sit on the board of the soccer team.
While this reeks of a publicity stunt, when Dortmund’s Chief, Hans-Joachim Watzke, was asked about the decision to have Bolt train with the squad he said that it was “not a marketing move” and was ”no joke.”
In addition it’s been said that Thomas Tuchel, BVB’s manager and one of the world’s most sought after coaches, apparently is in favor of it.
And the club itself is nothing short of world class, Borussia Dortmund currently sits 2nd behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, is the owner of 16 domestic titles, calls the world’s 37th largest stadium home (Signal Idun Park), and is littered with some of the world’s most exciting talent (including American phenom, Christian Pulisic).
And while the YouTube results for Usain Bolt playing soccer are scarce (most videos in the primary results are 4 years old), there are a few that show he at least has a bit of skill.
And despite when Watzke’s response of “We don’t even need to talk about it,” when asked if Bolt had a future with the club wasn’t the most promising of endorsements, I think it’s safe to say we’d all enjoy seeing Bolt dusting defenders with his out-of-this-world speed.
When all is said and done do I think Bolt has the talent the play for a world class club? Absolutely not. Do I think this is all a Puma driven publicity stunt? For sure yes. But, do I think if this somehow works out it would be fun as hell? You better believe it.
If anything just throw him a jersey and let him ride the bench during next year’s preseason tour long enough for him to get a spot in FIFA 18.