Hearts are hoping to finalise a loan deal for Newcastle United youngster Garang Kuol in the coming days and he would become Robbie Neilson's third signing of the month.
Following the signings of James Hill on loan from Bournemouth and Yutaro Oda from Vissel Kobe, Hearts are attempting to complete signing number three, with a deal already agreed between the Jambos and Newcastle for Kuol. The 18-year-old signed for the Magpies from Central Coast Mariners at the beginning of January, with Newcastle looking to send the Australian on loan to earn some match experience.
Kuol made two appearances off the bench for Australia at the 2022 World Cup, including a cameo against eventual winners Argentina in their round of 16 clash. Hearts boss Neilson revealed a deal is very close, and the forward could potentially be signed before Friday's clash with St Mirren.
READ MORE: Andy Walker in Hearts' stronger' verdict as pundit backs Robbie Neilson's men for third spot finish
Sign up to Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
“We’re just on the paperwork at the moment to try and get it done. I’ve no idea if it will be done by Friday. It would be great if we could but we’ll just need to wait and see.”
So, how could Kuol perform at Tynecastle Park? We simulated the rest of the season to try and find out.
We 'signed' Garang Kuol for Hearts as a January transfer
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2023 editor to arrange for Kuol to make the move to Hearts on loan following his move to Newcastle, using FM23 to run the simulation. We then simulated the remainder of the 2022/23 season to see what sort of impact the 18-year-old could have under Neilson.
Kuol was used frequently by Neilson in his first few months at the club, with the forward managing 19 appearances in all competitions, 12 in the starting XI and seven from the bench. Eight starts and all seven appearances off the bench came in the Scottish Premiership whilst the other four came in the Scottish Cup, and the Australian managed four goals and four assists in that time.
A good return, two goals and all four assists came in the league where he found most of his game time on the left, whilst in the cup he was deployed as a striker, scoring twice in four games including the winning goal in a 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the semi-finals. Lawrence Shankland ended the season as Hearts' top scorer with 25 goals, whilst Robert Snodgrass was the Jambos' best player, scoring 14, assisting nine and averaging a rating of 7.22 per game.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2023 put together an overall best Hearts XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what it looked like:
Full Hearts best XI: (4-2-3-1): Gordon; Smith, Halkett, Kingsley, Cochrane; Devlin, Kiomourtzoglou; Snodgrass, Forrest, Kuol; Shankland.
Kuol was part of Hearts' best XI from the 2022/23 season, starting on the left of attack in an attacking trio that included Snodgrass and Alan Forrest. The 18-year-old's inclusion saw the likes of Barrie McKay, Josh Ginnelly and Andrew Halliday all miss out on the XI, whilst Orestis Kiomourtzoglou made the XI in a midfield pivot with Cameron Devlin.
Hearts' results with Kuol
Hearts had a very successful season with Kuol in their ranks, with the Jambos ending the season in terrific form and finishing third in the Scottish Premiership table. Neilson's side tallied 68 points over the course of 38 games, 13 more than Dundee United in fourth and 15 less than Celtic in second who were beaten to the title by Rangers on the final day of the season.
The third-place spot put Hearts in the Europa League qualification spot, and the Jambos also earned bragging rights over rivals Hibernian, with Neilson's side winning three out of four meetings with Hibs. There were two clashes after the arrival of Kuol, both ending 2-0 to Hearts.
Hearts managed to reach the final of the Scottish Cup in the simulation after Kuol's winning goal in the semis, but they weren't able to win despite taking an early lead, losing 2-1 to Celtic.
Overall, FM23 predicts that Kuol could have an impressive impact with Hearts in his short stint at the club, with the 18-year-old showing huge potential as he became a regular in Neilson's side. Important goals from the Australian helped the Jambos to a third-place finish in the Scottish Championship and a Scottish Cup final in the simulation - results that would be highly praised in the real game.
Do you think Kuol could be a successful signing for Hearts ? Let us know below!
READ NEXT:
- Garang Kuol sets Hearts tongues wagging as social media update sparks Tynecastle transfer hint
- Hearts hero Paul Hartley makes Cove Rangers return following sacking of Jim McIntyre
