It's long been Usain Bolt's dream to transform from a gold-medal winning 100m sprinter to a professional footballer.

And since hanging up his spikes in 2017, the Jamaican has been trying to make that dream a reality by trialling with Borussia Dortmund and playing in Robbie Williams' Soccer Aid.

His trial with Dortmund was unsuccessful, but at the beginning of August Bolt was given a lifeline by Australian A-League club Central Coast Mariners.

Aware of the potential Bolt possesses with his incredible pace, the Mariners took him on an indefinite trial period to "develop [him] into a professional footballer".

Naturally, Bolt was very thankful to the Australian side for showing faith in him.

"I am very excited about coming to Australia and would like to thank the owner and management of the Central Coast Mariners for giving me this opportunity," he said.

"It has been my dream to play professional football and I know that it will involve a lot of hard work and training to get to the level required to play and make an impact in the A-League."

TURNING DREAMS INTO REALITY

Bolt made his debut for Central Coast on August 31 in a friendly against an amateur Gosford-based team. He came on as a substitute but failed to impress.

It's now been almost two months since the world's fastest man started his trial and how the Daily Mail have published quotes explaining how he's getting on.

According to head coach Mike Mulvey, Bolt is "progressing" at the club and should be at a level where he can be judged properly in January.

"Usain is progressing and that's the main thing," said Mulvey. "From the outset we said he needed time; we said we would give him 12 months if need be.

"A reasonable assumption would be that around January we should be judging where he's at. We're going to be ramping up our individual sessions with him over the next few weeks."

Bolt, meanwhile, claims his first touch has improved since joining Central Coast - which is something football fans and the media noted as a weakness on his debut.

"I feel like I'm improving," said the 32-year-old. "My touch is getting better, I've got a while to go but with more training and more dedication to my craft I will be fine."

So it sounds like training with a professional club is genuinely doing Bolt the world of good and he seems confident that he can earn a contract. Fair play to him.