Garang Kuol has finally got himself a goal for Hearts as the new Newcastle United signing has struggled for game time at the Edinburgh club.
Late last year Newcastle swooped in to secure the signature of Australia’s hottest prospect, Garang Kuol from Central Coast Mariners. The 18-year-old signed a pre-contract agreement in September which would see him become a Magpie when the January transfer window opened.
Between those two key dates, Kuol would go to the Qatar World Cup with the Australian national side and would even make a couple of appearances for the Socceroos. Those international caps meant that Kuol would be eligible for a UK work permit and wouldn’t then need to be loaned out to a European club when he arrived.
Garang Kuol was always going to be loaned out when he arrived
A loan was still the best option for him, however, and a deal was reached for him to link up with Scottish club Hearts for the second half of the season.
The move coincided with a dip in form for Hearts and them sacking their manager Robbie Neilson leaving Garang Kuol kind of floating. Barely featuring for the side, Newcastle fans were starting to wonder what was going on.
An international break came at the right time for ‘special‘ Kuol and he was able to return to Australia for a couple of weeks, scoring his first international goal in the process.
Returning to Hearts, though, saw the same old story of a lack of game time.
Kuol finally showed Hearts what he is capable of
Last night Kuol came off the bench on 83 minutes as Hearts were 2-1 down to Rangers at Ibrox, and with the last action of the game, he bagged his first goal for the club. His wild celebrations weren’t matched by the Hearts fans who knew a draw would mean that the dream of finishing third in the league would be gone.
It was a brilliant goal by Kuol, though, and he had every right to celebrate the way he did. Picking the ball up just over half way. He brought the ball forward a few yards before dinking it into the area, he continued his run and after a couple of ricotchets the ball fell back to his feet and he smashed it into the back of the net.
The big question now is, what happens with Kuol next season? If he is to be loaned out again, which is likely, then Newcastle will surely have to be more stringent with the terms of the deal to make sure he will be given more chances to play.
Alternatively, he could stay on Tyneside and play for the reserves, they need all the help they can get to be honest, but it seems like Dan Ashworth has already decided that a loan would be the best move.