Newcastle United enter 'preliminary talks' over 20y/o forward - nine days to complete deal
Newcastle United forward Garang Kuol has been linked with a return to Australia.
When the 20-year-old left his homeland to join Newcastle two years ago, he departed as one of their most young exciting prospects after catching the eye at the World Cup in Qatar.
However, his move to European soil has brought its challenges. Kuol has had loan spells at Scottish Premiership side Hearts and FC Volendam in the Netherlands, but neither were successful.
Newcastle lined up another loan move for Kuol last summer but a thigh issue put the blocks on.
For the last month or so, the forward has enjoyed a run of matches for the under-21s, scoring two goals in three appearances, but sources down under claim he could spend the rest of the campaign back in the A-League.
As per The West Australian, Macarthur FC have held preliminary discussions with Newcastle over signing Kuol on loan,
Kuol remains a popular figure in Australia having been subject to fanfare in May when he was part of the Newcastle squaf that played exhibition matches against Tottenham Hotspur and the A-League All Stars.
Newcastle under-21s manager Diarmuid O’Carroll recently revealed the club would be open to exploring a short-term loan move, but only if benefitted the player.
“Yeah, potentially [he will stay],” O’Carroll said. “No decisions are made. Obviously, everything can change in the last week in the window. But I think from our point of view, we're perfectly comfortable with him being in the building.
“If someone was to come and there's an attractive option, again we would sit down as a team in terms of Jack [Ross] and everybody and we weigh it up.
“We don't want to send someone for a token gesture because it looks good to send them on loan. We want from now on every loan to be tailored to the needs of the player.”
The English transfer window shuts tonight at 11pm but Australia’s market remains open until Wednesday, February 12, meaning Kuol can complete a potential return any time before then.