Newcastle United

Newcastle United

Premier League • England

Newcastle reach ‘full agreement’ over transfer as Howe ships off player to potentially perfect destination

Eddie Howe Newcastle 2022 TEAMtalk21

Newcastle United are set to sanction a loan move for Garang Kuol, with the young attacker close to joining Hearts on loan.

Kuol joined Central Coast Mariners U21s in July 2021. He soon made his way into their senior team and began to impress. After registering six goals and four assists in 18 games for the Australian side, Newcastle were convinced to make a move.

In September 2022, Newcastle completed a deal with Central Coast Mariners for Kuol to move to St James’ Park in January. According to reports in Australia, the Magpies have paid an initial £300k for him.

The Australia international, who made two substitute appearances at the World Cup, is still only 18 years old and therefore has lots of learning to do.

As such, Eddie Howe’s team are happy for him to go out on loan for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign. This will allow him to continue his development while picking up regular game time, something he would not get if he remained on Tyneside.

Reading soon registered their interest to Newcastle. But Scottish club Hearts put themselves in pole position by showing Kuol around their training ground on Thursday.

And this strategy seems to have worked. According to transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano, there is a ‘full agreement’ in place for the teenage winger to join Hearts. The transfer is pretty much done, with Newcastle and Hearts just needing to sign off on the necessary paperwork.

It is expected that Kuol will spend six months at Hearts before returning to Newcastle – hopefully as a more rounded player – in the summer. Howe will then decide whether he is good enough to fight for a senior spot at Newcastle, or if another loan is the best option.

Newcastle forward could impress in Scotland

The Scottish Premiership could be a perfect place for Kuol to shine. He will be able to gain experience in a senior squad without the pressure of becoming an immediate success at Newcastle.

The Australian league is clearly not as strong as the Scottish top flight. However, while starring in Australia Kuol has shown he has the attributes to potentially become an important player in the UK. And his experience at the World Cup will only help.

The starlet should settle in well at Hearts, too. They already have Australian players Cammy Devlin, Nathaniel Atkinson and Kye Rowles in their squad. This trio will help Kuol to get used to life in Scotland and make sure he has a good experience during his loan spell.

While Kuol is on his way out of Newcastle, the Magpies could bring in a couple of new players this month. And they are reportedly in touch with a Barcelona ace whose contract talks are not going to plan.