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Usain Bolt sets two-week deadline to join new football club or 'call it quits'

Usain Bolt will give himself until the end of the month to decide whether to continue pursuing a career in professional football.

The eight-time Olympic sprint champion rejected an offer from Central Coast Mariners following a long trial with the A-League club.

Despite failing to reach an agreement with the Mariners, Bolt took in the club's most recent A-League clash against Melbourne Victory on Sunday.

He then caught up with Victory marquee man Keisuke Honda at the Melbourne team's recovery the following day.

"I've got a lot of offers from a lot of other clubs out there," Bolt told Omnisport.

"We'll make a decision before the end of November if I'm going to go to another club or call it actually quits."

As well as his time at the Mariners, Bolt has trained with Norwegian team Stromsgodset and German giants Borussia Dortmund in his quest to become a professional footballer.

Bolt rejected an offer from Maltese club Valletta shortly before his time with the Mariners came to an end.

The 32-year-old also hit out at criticism of his footballing ability after a potential A-League colleague said he wouldn't make it, and claimed he has been backed to succeed by Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba and Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling.

"People are going to say what they want, I'm used to this. I used to do track and field, people used to think badly of me when I started and I proved them wrong every year," he said.

"Football is something that I want. I'm sure he [Keogh] is not at the level he was when he started, you know what I mean?

"I don't take it personally, I just laugh at these things because I've met Patrick Vieira, I've met so many big football players.

"I've talked to Pogba and Sterling and they are happy to see me trying, they say 'come on, you can do it.'"

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