Journalist Dean Jones has claimed that Matt Targett may not be good enough for where Newcastle United want to go as a club.
Matt Targett joined Newcastle United on loan from Aston Villa in January, after the English full-back was shipped off by Steven Gerrard, as he replaced him with Lucas Digne from Everton. Targett has started eight Premier League games for the Magpies since he arrived at St James’s Park.
The 26-year-old was a mainstay in the Villa side before Gerrard came along, he featured in all 38 Premier League games last term and made 17 appearances in the first half of the season this term before he made the switch to Newcastle.
With the loan deal for Matt Targett set to expire at the end of the season, Dean Jones has highlighted to GIVEMESPORT the decision that Eddie Howe has to make in terms of keeping him at St James’s Park on a permanent deal.
“Matt Targett’s a good player, but is he good enough for where Newcastle want to head? I think that’s what they’re trying to decide right now,” Jones said.
TIF Thoughts on Dean Jones’ comments…
This comes as quite a big twist as the Magpies had reportedly already agreed a price to sign the defender permanently in the summer transfer window.
Matt Targett has a current market value of £15.3 million and Eddie Howe will have to decide at the end of the season whether they want to sign him permanently or not. For both Villa and the Magpies this term, Targett has had a mixed bag in terms of stats in the Premier League, he has won possession on average 0.2 times per game but he also makes an average of two tackles per game and has won 58% of his total duels, as per Sofascore.
With the newly found wealth at Newcastle United, they will be able to shop in a different market from what they usually would. And with the introduction of Bruno Guimaraes and Kieran Trippier, Eddie Howe may be thinking that he could do better than Targett, and go for someone who has experience playing in a European competition.