Cliff Notes – Australia international Kuol eyes summer exit from Newcastle
- Garang Kuol has expressed the need to leave Newcastle United in the upcoming transfer window to secure first-team football, having not yet made an appearance for the senior squad.
- Despite a successful run with Newcastle’s Under-21 team, scoring eight goals and providing five assists in his last 11 games, Kuol’s contract is set to expire in just over a year, prompting his desire for a move.
Australia international Kuol eyes summer exit from Newcastle
Adam Sheldon
CloseAdam Sheldon is a Brisbane-based sports journalist for ESPN.Apr 14, 2025, 11:59 PM
Socceroos winger Garang Kuol has told ESPN that he needs to move away from Newcastle United in the next transfer window to secure first-team football.
Kuol, who was born in an Egyptian refugee camp to South Sudanese parents in 2004 before emigrating to Australia, is currently starring for Newcastle’s Under-21 team, scoring eight goals and providing five assists in his past 11 games.
He signed for the Premier League club in 2022, and many fans expected big things from the teenager after he lit up the A-League with a series of match-winning performances, earned praise from Barcelona legend Xavi, and played for Australia at the 2022 World Cup.
However, now 20, Kuol is yet to play for the Magpies’ first team and has spent much of his time on loan, first at Scottish Premiership side Hearts followed by Volendam in the Dutch Eredivisie.
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Kuol, whose Newcastle contract expires in just over a year, said he’d be looking to secure a move away from the club in the next transfer window — either on loan or a permanent move — in order to secure first-team minutes.
“The most important thing for me is to be able to play [senior] football… it won’t be that easy to jump from the under-21s at Newcastle to a first team squad which could be in the Champions League,” he told ESPN.
“For the summer, I’m not really sure what’s going to happen in terms of my next move … but I’d say [senior] football is the ultimate goal.”
Newcastle had planned to send Kuol out on loan again this season, with manager Eddie Howe believing the 20-year-old needed to develop more before being considered for the club’s Premier League squad. Those plans ended after Kuol suffered a injury in preseason, which ruled him out for the first few months of the season and consigned him to a year with Newcastle’s under-21 side.
However, for the first time in his life, Kuol is playing 90 minutes virtually every week, and this, along with the occasional training session with Newcastle’s first team, appears to have benefited him.
“It’s probably a blessing in disguise [the preseason injury],” Kuol said. “I’ve been able to graft and work on things I need to work on as a player — my physical shape, my fitness.
Garang Kuol is currently starring for Newcastle’s under-21 team, scoring eight goals and providing five assists in his last 11 games. Harriet Massey/Newcastle United via Getty Images
“In the past couple months, I’ve played probably the most 90 minutes I have played in my whole career, back-to-back consecutive games, which is what any young player needs … I haven’t had that in literally my whole professional career.
“Now I’m able to run up and down for 90 minutes every week … I think I played less than five 90-minute matches from 17 until 20 years old. It’s crazy because that’s what young players need the most: minutes and full games.”
While Kuol seeks a move to secure first team game time, he knows it’s not an instant solution. His loan at Hearts showed potential as he received minutes initially — though he was often played out of position — before the manager who signed him was sacked. After that, he only played once; scoring a late equaliser against Rangers, which helped Hearts secure a spot in the UEFA Conference League qualifying round.
It was a similar situation at struggling Volendam, where Kuol started the season in the side, before the coaching staff that brought him in were sacked in December. After that, he only played 32 minutes before the club were relegated.
Both experiences provided Kuol with a reality check about the ups and downs of professional football.
“It’s a high-pressure environment. It showed me what real football looks like, and not everything is brilliant,” he said. “You come in and the manager that brought you in gets sacked and you have to work your way around it to play.
“I missed opportunities there, and probably performed the best I could when I did have the opportunity. I was probably lacking the fitness and rhythm on the pitch to get up and down, which I’m working on now.”
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Despite the lack of game time, Kuol said he felt very comfortable in both leagues and would be open to moving back to the Eredivisie.
“I really enjoyed the football they played over there, the style of football, and the very tactical, technical approach to the game. When I think of a league, when it comes to development, the Netherlands is very much on my radar,” he said.
Kuol hasn’t represented the Socceroos for more than two years. While he’d love to pull on the green-and-gold jersey again, he’s yet to speak to new manager Tony Popovic.
“To represent Australia is a big honour. But at the same time, I understand that I need to be performing at a high level to be in contention to do that,” he said. “I think what I do in the summer will be crucial in terms of finding a first team to play at so I can be in contention to play for the Socceroos.”
Asked if he had any regrets about leaving Australia at such a young age with very little experience, Kuol said it was difficult to say whether it was right or wrong, but he had grown as a footballer.
“I’ve gone on loan,” Kuol said. “I’ve seen the reality of what a Premier League footballer looks like, the hard work they put in, how physical they are, how fit they are.
“I think it’s been full of experiences that you can’t buy.”
