Australian Newcastle United signing Garang Kuol, 18, has the innate tools of a star

Garang Kuol is officially off to Newcastle United. Having rode a wave of momentum from A-League youth football to the biggest league in the world in less than a year, the world is at the feet of Australian football’s next big thing. Now, with an entire nation watching on, he stares down the barrel of taking daunting, and treacherous steps into the unknown.

Just a week on from becoming the youngest player to debut for Australia since 17-year-old Harry Kewell, Kuol was formally unveiled as the latest member of the Toon on Thursday after flying to the UK following the Socceroos’ 2-0 win in Auckland to seal the deal.

Signing a contract that, according to reports, will make the 18-year-old one of Australia’s highest-paid footballers, the attacker will complete his move to the English Premier League when the transfer window opens in January. Having moved to sign him to a two-year deal in June, Central Coast are expected to receive a transfer fee of close to half a million dollars for the talented youngster, as well as the promise of lucrative sell-on fees.

“It’s unreal,” Kuol said in a statement. “As a young boy in Australia, the Premier League is the main thing that everyone watches, but nobody actually thinks they’ll reach those heights. To be one of those people, to be in the position I am, it’s amazing.

“Now that I’ve signed for Newcastle, I want to train hard, play hard, hopefully go to the World Cup and come back here.”

The announcement caps off a whirlwind six-month rise for Kuol, during which he has progressed from a fringe youth prospect at the Mariners seeking to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Alou, to the darling of the A-Leagues and a potential Socceroos World Cup bolter. To date, he had four goals