It was a very strange summer for Newcastle United youngster Garang Kuol.
It started with the young Aussie making his Newcastle United debut, as the Magpies travelled to Australia to play two highly controversial post-season friendlies.
Garang Kuol featured in both games, but that was more down to where the game was taking place rather than his ability to be a first-team player for Eddie Howe.
When pre-season kicked off, the forward remained in the first-team picture. Kuol trained at Adidas HQ with Newcastle, while he was set to travel to Japan for the pre-season tour until a knee injury ruled him out.
From that moment, it was unclear what was going on with the 19-year-old. It felt certain that a loan move was going to materialise, but a departure was never announced.
Now Kuol remains on Tyneside, despite not being ready to feature in the Premier League in the eyes of Eddie Howe. He is stuck in limbo, when he should be out on loan gaining valuable experience.
READ MORE: Who is Garang Kuol? Height, Position, Transfer, Family and More
Injury stopped Garang Kuol leaving Newcastle United on loan
Now a new report has detailed what actually happened with Kuol this summer, and explained why the former Central Coast Mariners attacker did not secure a loan move away from St James’ Park.
According to the Athletic, Kuol did not leave Newcastle United on loan due to tearing his quad in training.
They report that the teenager will be out of action for eight weeks, with talks over a move away coming to an end after he sustained the injury.
The Athletic add that Kuol was attracting interest from clubs in England, Portugal and Belgium, with some teams even interested in a permanent deal.
English loan would have been ideal for Kuol
Injury has derailed the start to Kuol’s season, at a time when it is pivotal that he starts to kick on and develop.
For reasons outside of his control, loans to Hearts and Volendam did not go well. He did not play enough, with management changes costing him a place in the team.
Those loan spells have set Kuol’s development back, and it was vital that his third temporary exit went well.
But now a move away is on hold until January, and Kuol must focus on getting back to fitness and progressing as a player on Tyneside. Perhaps he might benefit from working closely with Newcastle’s coaches, rather than being put in the hands of another club.
It is a shame that a move to an English club did not materialise, as that really would have been ideal.
Hopefully that option returns in January, when it will once again be essential that Newcastle United find the right club for a player whose hype has severely died down since his move to the North East.
That will be up to the sporting director, and Kuol’s future is one of the big issues that Paul Mitchell needs to address.
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