Newcastle United transfer news: Matt Targett has joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan deal.
Matt Targett has joined Middlesbrough on a season-long loan deal. The defender hasn’t featured for the Magpies so far this season and will move to the Riverside Stadium for the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign.
Targett will join a Boro side that are sat second in the Championship after three matches. Rob Edwards’ side have a perfect record so far this campaign, with Stoke City the only club to match their haul of nine points from their opening trio of games.
Middlesbrough defeated Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday to continue their unbeaten start to the league season and speaking ahead of that match, Edwards revealed that he was interested in adding a number of new faces before the summer transfer window closes: “We’re still working hard," Edwards said.
“There are a couple more areas where we still need to add a little bit more depth.
“Like I keep saying, I’m delighted with what we have in the building. The lads are giving us everything and working really hard, but clearly there’s just a couple of areas where we need to add in.
“We’re all working extremely hard on those areas, and to be fair, we’ve still got a little bit of time to make sure that we’re set and ready to go when the window closes.”
Matt Targett joins Middlesbrough
Targett could make his debut for Boro on Saturday when they face Sheffield United on Teesside. Ruben Selles’ side have lost all three of their Championship games so far this season and sit rock-bottom of the second tier.
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‘The left-sided defender will further strengthen Rob Edwards’ Boro squad after completing the switch from the Premier League. The former Southampton youngster has clocked up over 200 career appearances, the majority coming in the top-flight.
‘Other than a short loan spell with Fulham, the player has spent his entire career in the Premier League. He made 63 appearances for Southampton after progressing through their Academy and a further 89 for Aston Villa. He was the only player to start all 38 Premier League games in 2020/21 and was named Players’ Player of the Year. He initially joined Newcastle on loan in January 2022 before making a £15m move to the club later that year.’
A statement from Newcastle United read: ‘Newcastle United full back Matt Targett has joined Championship side Middlesbrough on loan for the 2025/26 season.
‘The 29-year-old, who has featured 47 times for the Magpies since arriving from Aston Villa in 2022, makes the switch to Teesside in search of regular football after overcoming injury setbacks in recent years.
‘He joins a Boro side who have started the season strongly under Rob Edwards and currently occupy second place in the table after winning all three of their opening Championship fixtures. Everybody at Newcastle United wishes Matt well during his time at Middlesbrough.’
Targett did feature in pre-season under Eddie Howe, but has slipped down the pecking order on Tyneside and wasn’t included in the first matchday squad of the season against his former club Aston Villa. He was also not named by Howe for the clash against Liverpool on Monday night as his proposed move to Middlesbrough near completion.
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