Bundesliga talent wears Newcastle United shirt ahead of January transfer move

Garang Kuol’s imminent switch to Newcastle United continues to spark excitement in his family.

The 18-year-old will officially join the Magpies from A-League side Central Coast Mariners next month after flying to Tyneside in September to finalise his move. The plan is to initially send Kuol out on loan to a European club before he pushed for a place in Eddie Howe’s senior set-up.

“It’s unreal. As a young boy in Australia, the Premier League is the main thing that everyone watches but nobody actually thinks they’ll reach those heights,” Kuol said. “To be one of those people, to be in the position I am, it’s amazing.”

Despite barely stepping foot inside St James’ Park, Kuol has already embraced everything about Newcastle United.

He stood in the away end with the travelling Toon supporters as United beat Fulham 4-1 at Craven Cottage. Kuol was even spotted wearing a Newcastle home shirt on his flight home from Qatar, where he was a part of the Australia squad that reached the last 16 of the World Cup.

And it appears that enthusiasm is rubbing off on his family. Garang’s older brother Alou, who plays for Bundesliga side Stuttgart, wore a black and white Newcastle top as he spoke on the Den of Truth Podcast.

Garang has followed quite a similar career path to Alou. The brothers started out at Shepparton in Victoria before joining Central Coast Mariners. Alou got his move to Europe with Stuttgart a year before Garang was snapped up by Newcastle.

“Garang is a very promising young talent and we are excited that he’ll be continuing his development as a Newcastle United player,” said sporting director Dan Ashworth.

“Our philosophy is to invest in our Academy and in exciting young players for the future, as well as in players required to make an immediate impact in the first team.”