Newcastle United could look to loan £15m ace as Nottingham Forest and Southampton show interest

Newcastle United have reportedly made injury-hit defender Matt Targett available for loan this month.

TBR Football claims that Eddie Howe is keen to offload Targett before the end of the transfer window to raise funds for wages in other areas of the pitch as the pursuit of highly-rated Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi continues to dominate the headlines.

The former Aston Villa left back arrived as one of Howe’s first signings at St James’ Park when he completed a six-month loan move to join the club in January 2022. The 28-year-old instantly became a fan favourite in his early months on Tyneside and helped the club rise from 20th to 11th in an excellent start which saw him play every minute of every game in the last 16 league matches.

This impressive form prompted the Magpies to make the deal permanent for £15m the following summer, with Howe describing Targett at the time as ‘a great lad’ who instantly makes the team ‘stronger.’

However, Target struggled to build on his initial success in the North East after making the move permanent due to injuries. On the opening day of the 2022/23 season he sustained a costly hamstring injury which kept him out for three matches. Dan Burn assumed the role of left back, with summer signing Sven Botman slotting into the centre back position and Targett struggled to regain his place in the team.

A heel injury kept Targett out for a further 12 matches, meaning the majority of his 17 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign were simply substitute appearances.

Targett battle to regain fitness at the start of last season but faced added pressure to succeed following the arrivals of highly-rated duo Lewis Hall and Tino Livramento. 

Targett was handed his first start of the season and only his third start of the campaign against Manchester United in the Carabao Cup in the early months of the season, but was subbed off with another hamstring injury after just five minutes. 

He returned to the subs bench four months later against Chelsea, but suffered a devastating achilles tendon injury in training which has subsequently kept him out since March.

Targett faces a tough task to get back into the team this season, with the likes of Lewis Hall, Dan Burn and Lloyd Kelly all having the ability to play left back, with Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento also providing competition.

The former Aston Villa man failed to make a single pre-season appearance but did impress in his comeback game for the U21 team in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Targett is under contract until 2026 but could potentially depart on loan this summer with Nottingham Forest, Brentford and former club Southampton all showing interest in a loan deal.