Matt Targett to Newcastle United: What type of player is he and what has Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard said about the defender?

Newcastle United look set to bring Aston Villa left-back Matt Targett to St James’s Park on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Newcastle have been in the market for a left-back this month and had pursued a deal for Bayer Leverkusen’s Mitchel Bakker.

However, it appears that their search has landed them at Targett’s door – here’s what Newcastle can expect from the player and why Villa may be willing to see Targett depart the club:

Aston Villa achievements

Targett was voted Aston Villa’s player’s Player of the Year last season and featured in every game last term, helping Villa to keep 15 clean-sheets in that time.

He joined Villa from Southampton in 2019 and has slowly improved as Villa have progressed from relegation candidates to contenders for European places.

Before the arrival of Lucas Digne, Targett was a regular at Villa Park and has made 17 Premier League appearances so far this season, chipping in with a goal and an assist in that time.

Style of play

Targett is a very solid full-back both defensively and offensively and should slot nicely into how Howe wants his side to play. He is comfortable with the ball at his feet and has plenty of Premier League experience to add to Newcastle’s defence.

Supporters will be hoping that Targett can help solidify a defence that has conceded 43 goals in just 21 Premier League games so far this season.

What has been said about his future?

Following the signing of Digne, Gerrard admitted that he wanted to see Targett and Digne to compete with each other for the left-back position:

"I'm the lucky one because I’ve got two top class left-backs. Matt’s pedigree, we believe he’s a really strong Premier League left-back.

"We’ve set the challenge and the gauntlet to Matt to take the fight to Lucas for the position and during the month of February the games are going to come thick and fast so we’re going to need two top left-backs."

With Digne now seemingly the number one option for Gerrard, a move to St James’s Park was reportedly very appealing for Targett who wanted to ensure he continued to get regular first-team football.

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