Hearts are said to be eyeing up an ambitious move for Newcastle starlet Garang Kuol just days after he officially joined the Premier League side.
The Australian teenager is viewed as one of his country's great white hopes and impressed with a couple of cameo performances off the bench at the World Cup - with Alan Shearer singling him out as a standout against France. The Magpies snapped him up from Central Coast Mariners in the summer but he only joined the St James' Park side on January 1 as they allowed him to continue his development in the A-League for six months.
He only turned 18 in September but scored twice and assisted three in eight A-League games before moving to the Premier League and attended their draw with Arsenal this week. Boss Eddie Howe recently admitted he is likely to be heading out on loan for regular game-time, and now reports south of the border say Hearts and Reading are both interested in bringing him in.
Robbie Neilson's team have a strong contingent of Australian talent with Cammy Devlin, Kye Rowles and Nathaniel Atkinson all in the squad for Qatar with the youngster. That would help him settle in and could sway Newcastle on sending him north until the end of the season, but they may prefer him to stay within the confines of the English game as they look to get him first-team ready.
Speaking on Kuol, Howe recently admitted: “It’s a possibility Garang could train with us for a little while. But I do think that for the player’s development, he needs to go and play.
“If possible, that would be at a very good level, with a good club and a good coach. That’s not a decision that’s been made currently, so we’ll have to assess what all of our options are.”
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