Newcastle United wonderkid Garang Kuol had 'seven or eight options' before the 'final decision' was made on his imminent loan switch to Hearts. That is according to first-team development coach Ben Dawson, with the Australia international expected to complete a temporary move to the Scottish Premiership side.
Newcastle confirmed a deal had been reached with Central Coast Mariners for the emerging A-League superstar in September, and the teenager has since enjoyed a meteoric rise. Kuol made his senior debut for Australia and went on to make two World Cup appearances from the bench after being named as Graham Arnold's wildcard pick.
Kuol made his final appearance for the Mariners on New Year's Eve in a home win over Melbourne Victory, and was pictured days later in Edinburgh for talks with Hearts. The 18-year-old was joined by loans coordinator Shola Ameobi, and reports since indicate Robbie Neilson's side have won the race for his signature.
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The Hearts boss described Kuol as a 'huge prospect' but admitted the club face heavy competition to land the loan agreement. Dawson is currently in interim charge of Newcastle under-21s along with Neil Winskill following the departure of Elliott Dickman, and he admits the talented teenager along with Ameobi, Eddie Howe and sporting director Dan Ashworth had plenty of choices to pick from.
Dawson told ChronicleLive: "I think they explored all of the options, the difficulty in the planning was always whether the GBE points would be enough to get him in the country or where could he go. There were probably seven or eight options on the table as to what was going to be best, I know they have sat down since he's come into the country and made that final decision."
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