Garang Kuol made his first Newcastle United appearance – 18 months after joining from Central Coast Mariners.
Eddie Howe says Newcastle United will likely send Garang Kuol out on loan again next season.
The 19-year-old made his non-competitive debut for the Magpies against Tottenham Hotspur in his homeland of Australia on Wednesday night. Kuol played the remaining 20 minutes before calmly converting his spot-kick as United won 5-4 on penalties.
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Kuol was among several youngsters to be introduced in the second-half. In the opening 45 minutes, both teams named their strongest starting XIs with James Maddison opening the scoring for Spurs before Alexander Isak.
Newcastle United winger Garang Kuol. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/Getty Images)
Asked why he handed Kuol minutes, Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said: “Just that really, give him the opportunity to showcase his talents. He’s been with us since we started our journey from England. It’s great to see him again and chat to him.
“Difficult game to come into as we didn’t have a lot of the ball, we went to a slightly younger team but then it was just a case of defending and seeing the game out. I thought he contributed to that and took his penalty really well so delighted for him.”
Newcastle signed Kuol from A-League side Central Coast Mariners in January 2023 less than a month after he became the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to feature in the World Cup knockout stages. He was immediately loaned to Scottish Premiership side Hearts before spending the 2023-24 campaign at Dutch outfit FC Volendam.
Kuol, however, has struggled for game time at both clubs. In Scotland, Kuol amassed 197 minutes of league action. And in the Netherlands, he last played a competitive match in November, starting just eight of his 15 league appearances and scoring once.
Howe has suggested Kuol needs another loan spell before forging a career on Tyneside.
He said: “I think it’s always difficult to say for certain what’s going to happen with a player at this stage, there is a long way to go before the season starts. But possibly another loan spell for him will be important.
“He’s had a couple of loan spells now and I think he needs the next one to be a successful one. He needs more game time for that happen.”
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