When Yankuba Minteh met Garang Kuol | OneFootball

It was Garang Kuol v Yankuba Minteh.

Volendam v Feyenoord on Thursday night.

The two young Newcastle United loan players up against each other.

However, the match a non-event, as it ended 0-0 between rock bottom Volendam and second top Feyenoord.

Whilst the only time Garang Kuol and Yankuba Minteh got close to each other was after the final whistle, when they shared a chat and a hug.

The story of Kuol’s season, an unused sub, he has made eight league starts for Volendam scoring one goal, however, his last league start was back in November.

Indeed, Volendam have been happy to let Garang Kuol be released to play for the Australia under 23s, they are one of 16 nations in the under 23s Asian Cup finals, taking place in Qatar between 15 April and 3 May.

The top three sides in the competition will automatically earn a place at the Olympics in Paris this summer (24 July – 9 August), so here’s hoping that just maybe there could be a silver lining to Kuol’s less than stellar season out on loan from Newcastle United.

With Volendam not having won a league match in almost four months and rock bottom of the table facing what looks certain relegation, it appears to mean, at least to me, that Kuol’s participation for the Dutch side is now at an end, with very very unlikely that a further loan period there will happen next season.

As for Yankuba Minteh, a very different set of affairs.

He played the first 56 minutes last night and in the goalless draw missed one great chance.

With thirteen league starts as well as nine appearances off the bench, Yankuba Mineth has ten direct goal involvements for Feyenoord in the league, scoring seven and three assists.

However, ending the season very strongly, the NUFC loan star now has four goals and an assist in his last seven matches for Feyenoord.

As you can see in this updated Eredivisie table, Feyenoord booked for second place and Champions League qualification again, as they are nine points clear of third but also nine points adrift of the top.

However, this month Yankuba Minteh could be set to pick up a medal, as Feyenoord play in the Dutch Cup final.

Minteh’s raw pace and talent has been increasingly leading to creating and scoring goals.

Last month, the 19 year old winger said (see below) that he was really enjoying his time at Feyenoord but that it was a case of not if, but when, he would reach his intended eventual destination, playing for Newcastle United in the Premier League.

That was then followed by Feyenoord boss Arne Slot speaking (also below) about the winger’s progress, worrying that that progress is now happening too quick!

The Feyenoord boss saying that Minteh’s raw talent and sheer natural pace, is now ever more rapidly getting enhanced with better decision making in the final third, when it comes to creating and scoring goals.

So much so that Arne Slot has indicated that the Dutch club’s chances of getting Yankuba Minteh back on loan are now swiftly diminishing. With the teenager ever more likely to be involved with the Newcastle United first team squad next season.

Whilst you feel for Garang Kuol with his loan season anything but great, it isn’t that surprising to an extent.

Both he and Yankuba Minteh were recruited as 18 year olds by Newcastle United but whilst Minteh cost £7m plus future add-ons, you were talking hundreds of thousands for Garang Kuol. Minteh already impressing at a decent level in the Danish top tier, both when it came to training and getting games, whilst for Kuol, he had only ever started three league matches in Australia’s A-League and was always going to take more time to make an impact and real progress.

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Exciting times for Yankuba Minteh and indeed very possible he will be involved in the Newcastle United first team squad next season but don’t write off Garang Kuol just yet. He definitely has raw potential and has produced moments of magic in his very limited club career opportunities so far, just a case of giving him time to develop at his own place and fingers cross, a more productive loan deal can be found for next season.

Hopefully in the meantime we will be seeing him this summer on our TV screens at the Paris Olympics.

Arne Slot talking to Dutch media, Rondo, about Yankuba Minteh – 26 March 2024:

“Yankuba Minteh has mainly played a lot in his native country, where very few tactics are involved.

“If you are that fast, it is a huge weapon.

“One action and he is gone, then you will not catch up with him again.

“I think that his choices are already improving in the final phase.

“The bad thing for us is that if his choices become really good, he will probably no longer play for us.”

The winger speaking to Voetbal International in Holland, with Feyenoord and Yankuba Minteh having the cup final to look forward to next month, whilst they look pretty certain to finish second in the league (currently 10 points off top and six ahead of third), which would see them qualify for Champions League football again next season – 13 March 2024:

“I believe very much in myself, in my qualities. In addition, you just have to go for your career, stay focused.

“There is no point in thinking that it is all going so quickly. I better be happy with it.

“That two years ago I played for Steve Biko FC in Gambia and this year I made my debut in the Champions League.

“Playing at Feyenoord, I made my debut in the Champions League, but at the same time I also think that I could perhaps have shown a little more. Okay, I scored against Celtic and recently against PSV and Heracles Almelo, but also opportunities missed. I am not easily satisfied.

“I really want to win the cup. That is a tangible prize.

“A second place (in the league), I know that it will qualify us for the Champions League and in that respect it is worth as much as a trophy, but that’s not how it feels to me.

“I want to become a champion, that’s what you play for. The cup would give our season extra shine.

“My parents sit in front of the television, like everyone else in Gambia. The whole country (backs me). It can become the first real prize for me as a footballer. If it were up to me, the first of many.

“Ultimately though, the Premier League is my goal.

“Newcastle United is the club that have a lot of confidence in me.

“I have no idea what the future looks like.

“I was in Newcastle once, when they played against Borussia Dortmund.

“I will hear soon what plans the club has for me.

“I’m still young, I have time, maybe they want to loan me out again.

“I don’t know yet, I’ll hear about it.

“I’ll let everything happen to me.

“I know only that one day I will play in the Premier League (for Newcastle United).”