REPORT: Newcastle United set to sign Australia wonderkid Garang Kuol

Breaking news coming out of the other end of the world this morning as Dave Lewis from beIN SPORTS is reporting that “Australia’s hottest young prospect Garang Kuol is close to clinching a [.... ] move to English Premier League club Newcastle United.” The deal to sign soon-to-be Australia international Kuol is expected “[to be] ratified over the next week.”

The 17-year-old, who turns 18 tomorrow (Thursday), recently got called up by Australia’s head coach Graham Arnold for the upcoming international break in which could mark the debut of Garang Kuol with the Socceroos' first team. Those two games will take place on Sept. 22 and Sept. 25 as Australia takes on New Zealand twice in that span.

Garang is now close to adding another bright landmark to his resume by signing with playing Newcastle. The deal, which would leave Kuol playing football in Australia until January, is expected to have the youngster move to Europe at the start of the next transfer window although he would be re-routed to another club in the continent as part of a loan deal until the end of the 2022/23 campaign. Kuol is expected to get a salary of “£25,000 ($43,000) a week“ according to the beIN SPORTS report.

Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

This rather unique transfer-and-loan deal has to do with Kuol’s current international status when it comes to his UK work permit, which he doesn’t have qualifications for yet. That should change later this month when he debuts with the Aussie first team in the games against New Zealand.

beIN SPORTS is also reporting that Kuol’s current team in the Australian A-League “Central Coast Mariners will receive a fairly modest fee—the pre-existing buyout clause in his contract.” The report, though, adds that “the club will also receive some impressive add-ons and share of future transfer fees if Kuol’s career hits certain metrics in the years ahead.”

Garang Kuol is going to be the youngest player in the Aussie camp following his inclusion in the Socceroos’ 31-man squad for their next games. So much so, that he will also be the youngest player to be called up to the main national team of the country since Harry Kewell back in April 1996.

When asked by a reporter if he believed he was good enough to be wearing the Socceroos tracksuit, Kuol responded confidently with an emphatic “of course”. He added that “I think at this level of being an athlete mentality is key, so regardless of age if you just go in full guns blazing wanting to prove yourself and be ruthless, you can achieve whatever you want.”

Kuol is playing his first season of top-flight football in Australia with the Mariners. He has scored four goals in his 189 minutes of A-League action so far while adding one assist to that tally.

Kuol was also part of the A-League All-Star team that played against Barcelona last May—in a 3-2 defeat to the Spanish side—at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. Speaking after that game, Barcelona’s manager Xavi hailed the Aussie youngster saying that “[Kuol] did very well, he created many chances, almost scored.”

Photo by Harry Langer/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Garang Kuol has a brother, Alou, already playing in Europe after the older of the Kuol brothers secured a move to the German side last summer. In his first season, Alou followed a similar path to that outlined for Garang as he got loaned to fellow-German side SV Sandhausen for a year and until the end of last season. Alou is now back in Stuttgart but he’s yet to make his first-team debut.

Here’s Garang speaking to the media in his first press conference with the Aussie national team, to which he’s beaten his older brother to.

We’ll update this story if we get more information. For now, we can only wait and hope a deal to sign Garang Kuol gets inked in the next few days!