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There is little doubt that the football talent possessed in the body of Socceroo Garang Kuol is considerable at worst and immense at best.
The former Central Coast Mariner stunned the country with his performances through 2021-23, as a teenager blessed with an explosiveness that, frankly, I’ve not seen in a young player in the A-League.
Kuol loomed as Australia’s best homegrown product and a generational player, despite his rawness. After a short stint in the Mariners Academy, the first team called and a minimal 18 league games and six goals were required for the suits at Newcastle United in the UK to realise that the kid from Australia had something so special that it could not be ignored.
Many down under called it a potential disaster in the making, as the young man headed abroad for what would most likely be a period of loan arrangements across Europe, as Newcastle sussed out just how good he could be and whether Kuol was indeed Premier League standard in the years to come.
Garang Kuol poses for photographs at St. James Park after signing with Newcastle in 2022. (Photo by Serena Taylor/Newcastle United via Getty Images)
And so things played out, with a loan to Scotland not proving to be the best environment for Kuol to showcase his talents and a subsequent home at FC Volendam in the Netherlands bringing similar meagre returns that did little to solidify his reputation as a young player of the future.
The Dutch team was relegated last season and a quad injury that Kuol picked up has resulted in a rather long and painful recovery after he had struggled to gain minutes in a battling team. It is a story plenty of Australian players have experienced across many a decade.
The cynics will say Kuol left far too soon and should have become a dominant A-League player before chasing dreams abroad. A second school will suggest that Newcastle has let him down badly with moves to clubs where he never really seemed to fit in right from the get-go.
A third voice will argue that Kuol is frightfully young and immature as a footballer, still developing and anyone expecting anything different from what we are seeing as he approaches his 21st birthday is simply deluded.
Kuol displayed his special qualities with the Socceroos when given the chance, earning him a dream appearance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as an 18-year-old. It was a history-making selection and the Egyptian-born attacker almost drew Australia level late in the clash with Argentina in the Round of 16.
Garang Kuol. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
It was a moment that will live in many of our minds for eternity, as we wonder what could have been had the young star not seen his shot at the near post saved with the minutes running down on the clock and the Socceroos finishing the stronger of the two teams.
That was then and this is now. Garang Kuol is far from an automatic pick for the Socceroos as the March qualifiers approach against Indonesia and China. In fact, it is almost certain he will not be picked based on the amount of football he has played in recent times.
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As such, Macarthur Bulls have reportedly expressed interest in getting one of the most promising and dynamic players in Australia back on home soil, playing minutes and building up some of the eroded confidence that the last two seasons have brought him in Europe.
The plan appears to be to fill the voids created by departures from the Bulls, particularly Jed Drew who was having a ripper season for the Sydney-based club, and allow Kuol half a season of confidence-building football in Australia before awaiting the next command of his parent club.
Frankly, all parties would benefit from such an arrangement. The Bulls are top-six bound and need a replacement for Drew. Newcastle need their asset to be impressing and playing more consistently and with greater impact than he has done at two European clubs and Kuol’s psyche appears to need something of a refresh.
The A-League itself would love to see the young star back home. The Bulls would be chuckling with glee, the Mariners a little peeved at seeing their man suit up in opposition kit and the other teams involved in the finals on firm watch in the knowledge of what Kuol brings in terms of attacking flair.
Make it happen I say. It is hard to see any real losers in the entire scenario.