BREAKING NEWS; Newcastle are having a financial difficulty for the summer signing

With FFP and PSR a constant theme as Newcastle look to balance the book financially ahead of a big summer of spending, one problem we must solve centres around Matt Targett.

According to NewcastleWorld, the forgotten full-back takes home a whopping salary of around £100,000-per-week, with the club handing him a lucrative salary when he sealed a £12m move from Aston Villa in the summer of 2022.

It’s no major surprise, but the same report states that Newcastle have transfer listed Targett, with the club eager to offload his hefty wages worth £5.2m per year.

In hindsight, our decision to sign Targett permanently feels like a mistake two years on from his move. There was always a feeling we’d outgrow the 28-year-old – who was solid for us during that initial loan spell – but he lost his place to Dan Burn at left-back and has now fallen even further down the pecking order following the arrivals of Lewis Hall and Lloyd Kelly.

Not only that, injuries saw him sidelined for the second half of the 2023/24, as he’s not featured following a serious hamstring injury in last year’s Carabao Cup win at Man Utd.

This mixed in with his high wages and contract situation – he’s still on our books until the summer of 2026 – will make him hard to shift this summer, but moving him on could be key as we look to balance the books.

One hope is that he does pursue a move and first-team minutes in favour of sitting on the sidelines and enjoying his huge pay packet, as I remember him pushing to leave Aston Villa for game time following Lucas Digne’s arrival.

We’ve seen certain players see out the remainder of their lucrative contract in favour of getting their career back on track, so hopefully Targett picks the former in a move that could work for all parties. I just hope interest hasn’t waned completely given his injury situation and potential wage demands.