Football
AAP 6y

Usain Bolt taking A-League spot from Australian players - Marco Kurz

The A-League's Usain Bolt experiment shouldn't come at a cost to young Australian talent, Adelaide United coach Marco Kurz said.

Kurz said he cannot pass judgement on Bolt as a footballer but believes the A-League should increase the size of the matchday squads so younger local players get a look in.

"It's up to ... Usain Bolt, but if you will improve the league then you must bring quality," Kurz told reporters on Monday. "And he must have a higher quality than the players that are here. That is, for me, the point.

"If it's only to bring some more supporters on the game day in the stadium, it's for me not the right way. Why not [expand] the squad for the game day to 18 players and then you can put two young players in the squad and they can have play time? Because I think the aim for the league must be to improve young Australian players and not to bring a sprinter in [their] position."

Bolt is on an indefinite trial with Central Coast Mariners.

Kurz said he was as interested as anyone to see if the eight-time Olympic gold medallist could cut it as a professional footballer.

"I will see what is the next step of Usain Bolt but for sure he must have the quality to play," Kurz said. "He is fast enough but I don't know about Usain if he is good on the ball or not. ... I know him as a perfect sprinter but not as a footballer."

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