Garang Kuol probably hasn't had the start to his Newcastle United career that he dreamed of when the Magpies moved to sign the promising youngster from Central Coast Mariners in Australia.
While it's unlikely that the youngster will have been expecting to burst into the first team straight away when he arrived from down under, he probably envisioned a much less rocky start to life in the northern hemisphere.
When Kuol arrived in England he was almost immediately bundled into a car with Shola Ameobi and taken to Scotland to join Hearts on loan.
Due to a run of poor results and a change in manager, Kuol's game time in Scotland ended up being way below what Newcastle, and no doubt Kuol himself, would have hoped.
Last season, while fellow promising youth, Yankuba Minteh, went to defending Dutch champions Feyenoord, Kuol also joined the Eredivisie but at the bottom end of the table with FC Volendam, where once again his game time and impact were very limited.
While Kuol did eventually make his Newcastle debut last season in the post-season friendlies played in his native Australia, his appearances were more of a PR stunt given the location rather than any indication that Kuol was ready for the first team. Indeed, his performances proved that he wasn't.
It was therefore crucial that this summer Newcastle got things right and found Kuol the perfect club to go to on loan, but instead, the 19-year-old has remained on Tyneside.
The reason behind it has now been confirmed by The Athletic who report that Garang Kuol has injured his quad in training this summer. It is an injury which brings with it an eight-week recovery time.
It's now expected that Newcastle will try and find a club for Kuol in January, assuming there are no further complications with his injury.
There was an 18-month plan in place for Kuol's development when Newcastle signed him, but it has become apparent to those at the club that this will need to be extended.
We just wonder how much longer they'll give him before giving up and shipping him off.
PL | GD | PTS | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Liverpool
|
12 | 16 | 31 |
2 |
Manchester City
|
12 | 5 | 23 |
3 |
Chelsea
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
4 |
Arsenal
|
12 | 9 | 22 |
5 |
Brighton
|
12 | 5 | 22 |
6 |
Tottenham Hotspur
|
12 | 14 | 19 |
7 |
Nottingham Forest
|
12 | 2 | 19 |
8 |
Aston Villa
|
12 | 0 | 19 |
9 |
Fulham
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
10 |
Newcastle United
|
12 | 0 | 18 |
11 |
Brentford
|
12 | 0 | 17 |
12 |
Manchester United
|
12 | 0 | 16 |
13 |
Bournemouth
|
12 | -1 | 15 |
14 |
West Ham United
|
12 | -4 | 15 |
15 |
Everton
|
12 | -7 | 11 |
16 |
Leicester
|
12 | -8 | 10 |
17 |
Wolves
|
12 | -8 | 9 |
18 |
Ipswich
|
12 | -10 | 9 |
19 |
Crystal Palace
|
12 | -7 | 8 |
20 |
Southampton
|
12 | -15 | 4 |