How do you solve a problem like Garang Kuol? - Newcastle's next steps for the Aussie wonderkid - opinion

In January 2023 a young Egyptian-Australian wonderkid by the name of Garang Kuol finalised his move from the A-League to the Premier League.

Cited as wonderkid with plenty of clubs eyeing the youngster's development, Newcastle United were the club to strike and to convince the Central Coast Mariners and Australian international to move to the northern hemisphere.

Initially, there was a worry that Kuol would not be granted a work permit because of his young age and lack of experience, but Newcastle had planned to loan the teenager to a European club so that he could rack up the points required to be allowed to play for Newcastle. Fortunately, that wasn't an issue in the end after Kuol made a couple of international appearances at the World Cup becoming Australia's youngest ever representative in that competition.

Newcastle fans watched on with interest to see their new signing in action, and things looked promising.

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Two poor loan moves have shattered Garang Kuol's confidence

When Kuol arrived in the UK he was promptly whisked away to Edinburgh with Shola Ameobi where he signed a loan deal with Hearts for the remainder of the season. That loan proved to be rather fruitless with a change in management seeing Kuol's game time vastly reduced.

Surely, the Magpies would get it right in the summer? Nope. Kuol was loaned to Eredivisie strugglers FC Volendam where he once again failed to make any significant impact except for one stunning goal.

So now what do Newcastle do? The 19-year-old was given a run out for the club during the disastrous Australia trip which did him no favours. Finding a decent club for him to go out on loan to is going to be difficult given his failure to impress since his arrival at the club.

Garang Kuol feels like an Ashworth signing that Howe didn't want

Dan Ashworth was the man behind the Garang Kuol acquisition and it has felt like Eddie Howe has had little to nothing to do with it. We have seen how Eddie Howe will put his arm around a player he believes in - Lewis and Jamie Miley and Trevan Sanusi being prime examples of that, but there seems to be a huge disconnect between Kuol and Howe, almost as if Howe didn't want him at the club.

He's stuck with him now though, and surely even Howe can see that there is potential there, as raw as it may be. Kuol's confidence is probably absolutely shattered too, which is something Howe needs to take into consideration.

If Kuol is to be loaned out again then it has to be the right move or it could be curtains for his Newcastle career.

Why not keep Kuol around for a few months?

A friend of mine, who sparked off this whole article with a random text message, has given what I feel is a fantastic solution to the problem.

We keep Kuol at Newcastle until at least January. Let him train with the club he agreed to sign for, let him play for the reserves and build up his confidence and rescue his reputation, then come January he may be in a much better position, other clubs may be more keen to take a punt on him.

Obviously, having never worked at a football club and not being privy to how it all works, this may not be feasible, but surely it's the most common sense option if we ever want to get anything out of the kid who landed with so much promise.