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Aston Villa have agreed a fee for Southampton left-back Matt Targett, although the size of the fee is unclear.
Words by Regan Foy | @FindFoy
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Aston Villa have agreed a fee with Southampton for their left-back Matt Targett, who looks set to be confirmed as an Aston Villa player next week.
The size of the fee is unclear, with one Telegraph reporter stating that it is a £14,000,000 fee rising to £17,000,000, and Jim White of Sky Sports and TalkSport reporting that it is an £11,000,000 fee with potential add-ons.
The deal will see Targett join as the first left-back since the arrival of Neil Taylor from Swansea City in Aston Villa’s first season in the Championship.
The position has long plagued Aston Villa due to uncertainties surrounding Taylor’s form at times, as well as injury issues that forced the club to start right-back Alan Hutton out of position on a number of occasions.
Targett played in 20 games for Southampton last season, and at times struggled with the style of football that Hassenhuttl was attempting to play – yet still made such an impact on a squad that has Ryan Bertrand as a left-back option.
The 23-year-old’s best season of football came for Fulham, where he helped them towards promotion, putting in four Man of the Match performances in his 20 games for the London side.
Whilst he is not the finished article by any means, he’s a Dean Smith style of signing, and it’s likely that our manager will be able to get the best out of Targett – who can play all the way down the left hand side.
More will follow in the coming days.
