Aston Villa have confirmed that Matt Targett has left the club to join Newcastle Utd in a £15m move.
The 26-year-old moved to Tyneside on loan in January and has evidently done enough to impress Eddie Howe and the club to convince them to sign him outright.
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As per Villa’s official statement, Newcastle have signed Targett on a permanent basis in a deal worth £15m, and so that fee will now undoubtedly go towards balancing the books as we continue our own push to strengthen the squad and become more competitive.
While Targett was a key figure early on in our return to the Premier League, he was soon replaced by Lucas Digne in the starting XI after Villa signed the Frenchman in January as part of Steven Gerrard’s first changes to the team.
With the former Everton and Barcelona man seemingly the preferred option in that position, Targett opted for an exit on loan to Newcastle and will hope to build on a positive six months at St. James’ Park.
As for Villa, with Digne now established as our first-choice left-back, coupled with the expectation that Ashley Young will remain at the club and provide cover given his versatility along with the ongoing development and emergence of Ben Chrisene, Villa have plenty of options in that department and have made a smart decision in moving Targett on.
Time will tell if Gerrard believes that we still need to sign a player to add another option in that role, but for now, it’s an important part of Villa’s strategy to balance the spending with exits while also allowing Gerrard to continue to stamp his mark on the squad moving forward.
