Manchester United ace Cristiano Ronaldo is set to recruit Olympic champ Usain Bolt as a new sprint coach.

The link-up between the FIFA World Player of the Year and the fastest man on the planet will take place this summer and is, according to Bolt's agent Ricky Simms, far from a commercial stunt.

It is born out of their mutual admiration after Bolt, a passionate football fan away from the track and a huge admirer of Ronaldo, recently sent a message to the Manchester United star asking for a signed shirt.

The Jamaican already has a large collection of original signed shirts which occupies pride of place in a room at his home in Kingston.

Ronaldo, himself a big fan of Bolt, was only too happy to oblige but had a request of his own. In return, he said, he would like some advice from the world record-holder on how to improve his own speed on the football pitch.

Bolt has now agreed to travel to Manchester for a coaching session with the Portuguese player and the pair are in the process of arranging a suitable date.

"It's definitely going to happen," Simms told the Sunday Telegraph. "We'll sort something out in this summer when Usain comes to Europe to compete."