Eddie Howe admits Newcastle United forward will 'hopefully' join another club this summer

Garang Kuol made his first appearance for Newcastle United on Wednesday as he came off the bench for the penalty shootout win over Tottenham Hotspur in Melbourne.

The Australian international signed for Newcastle in January 2023 but was quickly loaned out to Heart of Midlothian and then Dutch side Volendam last summer. The 19-year-old replaced Callum Wilson for the closing stages as the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes.

Kuol then converted his penalty as Newcastle won 5-4 in the shootout. And head coach Eddie Howe was pleased to get a first proper look at Kuol in a matchday setting.

“He's been with us since we started our journey from England,” said the Newcastle boss. “It's great to see him again and chat with him but it was a difficult game [for him] to come into because we didn't have a lot of the ball, we went to a slightly younger team so it was a case of defending and seeing the game out in that way. 

“He contributed to that and took his penalty really well so I'm delighted for him.”

Kuol will feature for Newcastle against an A-League All Stars XI on Friday (8:05am BST kick-off). The youngster previously represented the A-League All Stars in a friendly match against Barcelona in 2022.

“Definitely, he'll be involved,” Howe added. “It will be a younger team for us. We'll play a younger team so the majority of the experienced players will have finished their seasons.”

After two unsuccessful loan spells for Kuol, Howe was asked about where the forward’s future lies. It is likely Newcastle will opt to send the former Central Coast Mariners player out on loan again this summer.  

“It's 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,” Howe continued.

“He's had a couple of loan spells now but he needs the next one to be a successful one and we need him to get more game time and hopefully that will happen.”