Eddie Howe has stopped short of addressing Matt Targett's long-term future at Newcastle United but the Magpies' head coach is 'very happy' with the defender - who will play against Southampton despite Ralph Hasenhuttl's grievances.
Newcastle signed Targett on loan, initially, from Aston Villa back in January but the black-and-whites do have the option to make the move permanent in the summer. While Targett has been keen to focus on the here and now, the left-back has enjoyed his time at the club, and perhaps, it would be a surprise if a deal was not struck after Villa bought Lucas Digne from Everton in the mid-season window.
Targett has impressed in each of the four games he has played for Newcastle so far and the Eastleigh native looks set to start against former club Southampton at St Mary's on Thursday night. Given how Targett has already become one of the first names on the team sheet, Howe will surely want the 26-year-old to be a part of his long-term plans - even if the Newcastle boss can't necessarily say so in public.
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"It's a difficult one," he told reporters. "I sort of won't answer that, but I will say how well I think he's done.
"He's very consistent, fitted in really well on and off the pitch and is a very intelligent player with and without the ball. He's been excellent so I'm very happy with him."
Although Newcastle made five signings in January, Targett, Dan Burn and Chris Wood are the only mid-season arrivals expected to definitely start on the South Coast on Thursday night. Kieran Trippier is currently sidelined with a foot injury while Bruno Guimaraes is being eased into life in the Premier League and may instead make his full debut against either Chelsea or Everton.
This game against Southampton was originally due to be played on January 2, but was postponed because of the number of COVID cases and injuries Newcastle had at the time. Southampton were frustrated that the fixture was rescheduled and Ralph Hasenhuttl even went as far as to say that it would be 'unfair' for new signings to be eligible to play against his side in the rearranged clash.
However, on the eve of the game, Howe insisted the 'rules are the same for everybody so no team talk of mine will be based around that'. When it was then put to Howe that the Southampton boss' comments were a little fanciful, the 44-year-old as good as agreed.
"Obviously someone thinks so because we're allowed to," he said. "We just followed the protocols that we've been set and we're delighted to play our new players.
"They've done very well for us and they've made a difference. I didn't see the comments. I understand, but we've just followed what we were told to do."
The arrival of so many new signings in January meant that a number of players had to be left out of Newcastle's 25-man squad for the second half of the season even after Jeff Hendrick and Freddie Woodman joined QPR and Bournemouth on loan. As a result, Ciaran Clark, Jamal Lewis and the injured Isaac Hayden were all omitted.
Although Targett, admittedly, played in his position, Lewis' omission came as the biggest surprise - just a year-and-a-half after his £15m move from Norwich City. However, it emerged at the time that Lewis had a longstanding groin issue that the Northern Ireland international is now hoping to address once and for all.
"I said when I left Jamal out of the 25-man squad, he's had injury problems so, at the moment, he's in Germany getting assessed and looked at by a groin specialist," Howe added.
"He's had this groin problem now for over a year and we haven't quite fixed it for him. He has trained with us, but now he's going through a spell where he probably won't and he might well be operated on in the next few days.
"He's been excellent. When he's been around the building, he's been very good, as has Ciaran Clark. Those players who haven't been involved in the 25-man squad have been very professional."
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