Southampton will have been hard at work this week preparing for their second Premier League challenge of the new season, with Nottingham Forest up next for Russell Martin's Saints.
Supporters of the South Coast outfit will be optimistic that this could be the game where their team get their first league points on the board, after an encouraging, if frustrating, performance away at Newcastle United saw them somehow come up empty-handed, despite dominating for large spells of the 1-0 loss.
The Saints boss will have new recruit Mateus Fernandes at his disposal for the clash at St. Mary's, with more new faces expected through the door soon, to link up with the promising Portuguese midfielder.
Southampton interested in loan swoop
As per a report by journalist Graeme Bailey, Southampton's opponents on the opening day in the form of Newcastle are willing to allow Matt Targett to leave the club on loan, before transfer deadline day comes around at the close of the month.
Southampton are named as one keen party for the 28-year-old, who has previously lined up for the Saints during his varied career, having once been a product of their esteemed Academy.
Yet, as per Bailey, Fulham, Nottingham Forest and Brentford are also actively looking at the Magpies number 13, to boost their own defensive numbers without significantly breaking the bank, with Targett available on a loan deal.
The South Coast outfit will hope they have an upper-hand in any tussle to come for Targett's services, however, owing to the 28-year-old's past connections to the club.
The 6 foot left-back could get back to his best donning the familiar red and white of Southampton, offering Martin's men another expansive option down the channels, alongside star man Kyle Walker-Peters.
What Targett can offer Southampton
Targett would slot into the side down the left flank under Martin, with Walker-Peters having to start here on the opening day, due to a lack of options at the manager's disposal.
The Saints Academy graduate's last full season for his former employers saw him shine bombing down the left-hand side of the pitch, with one goal and three assists registered from just 16 top-flight clashes during the 2018/19 season, leading to Aston Villa snapping him up for a bumper £17m.
Club played for
Games played
Goals scored
Assists
Newcastle
42
0
0
Aston Villa
89
3
5
Southampton
63
1
5
He would go on to become an important squad player at Villa, with eight goal contributions managed from 89 games, before unfortunately seeing his playing days in the top-flight fizzle out located on Tyneside.
If Martin can get Targett back to his best, in terms of offering the Saints another attacking outlet when moving forward in their mission to stave off relegation, the Saints boss could have two tricky options in the full-back areas, alongside already having Walker-Peters.
The former Tottenham Hotspur man has been linked with a return to North London recently, but Martin will continue to rely on his electric number two's creativity until any potential move gets off the ground.
On the way to Southampton winning promotion last campaign, the "fantastic" defender – as he has been described by football pundit Carlton Palmer – notched up two goals and four assists, amassing 90.8 touches on average per second-tier clash as a key part of the Saints jigsaw.
Creating 12 big chances as well across the regular season, Targett will hope he can explode back into life in a system at St. Mary's that has made Walker-Peters into even more of a hard-to-contain attacking threat.
If the move does end up being somewhat of an underwhelming flop, at least the £100k-per-week man – as per Capology – wasn't purchased permanently, but it could prove to be a gamble worth exploring to add more depth to the Saints squad.
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