Newcastle United winger pictured in Germany as mystery continues after injury blow
Garang Kuol has been enjoying some downtime in Germany as the mystery surrounding his short-term future continues.
The 19-year-old joined Newcastle United for nominal fee from Central Coast Mariners in January last year, spending the first four months after on loan at Scottish Premiership side Hearts before linking up with FC Voldendam in the Netherlands for the 2023-24 campaign.
Unfortunately, neither spell proved successful for Kuol, resulting in just 25 appearances in total. However, that didn’t stop Newcastle boss Eddie Howe from including the winger in his squad for the post-season trip to Australia in May.
Follow the latest Newcastle United headlines and sign up for our football newsletter - find out more
Kuol was subject to a fanfare in his homeland, making his Toon debut as a substitute against Tottenham Hotspur where he converted his spot-kick in a penalty shootout win. He then played a full game against the A-League All Stars as a youthful United were hammered 8-0.
Speaking during the tour, Howe hinted at another loan spell for Kuol: "It's always very difficult to say for certain what's going to happen with a player at this stage because there's a long way to go before the season starts.
"But possibly another loan spell for him will be important. He's had a couple of loan spells now but I think he needs the next one to be a successful one. We need him to play more game time. Hopefully, that'll happen."
Fast forward to now - the beginning of September - and Kuol remains at Newcastle with only a limited number of transfer windows still open.
Howe confirmed in Japan that Kuol had picked up a knee injury, hence his absence from the trip, but there has been no update since. Indeed, the player hasn’t represented the Magpies at any level since the pre-season opener against German third-tier side SpVgg Unterhaching.
It is unclear if Kuol is still injured or what’s next for him. While the mystery continues, he has at least reminded fans he still exists after uploading a photo to Instagram of him catching up with former Mariners teammates Maximilien Balard and Nectarios Triantis in Cologne.