Aston Villa tipped to complete transfer after surprise £25m deal

Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Danny Mills can see Matt Targett leaving Aston Villa at the end of the season.

Targett joined Newcastle United on loan on transfer deadline day last month following the arrival of Lucas Digne from Everton for £25 million.

Targett had been a regular for Villa since he signed from Southampton upon promotion from the Championship in the summer of 2019.

It was a surprise to see the 26 year-old move on with Villa boss Steven Gerrard outlining his stance on Targett and Digne with the pair set to battle it out for a starting role in the starting lineup.

However, Targett was benched instantly following Digne's arrival despite playing 19 times this season for Villa and is now a key player for Newcastle United.

Mills thinks Targett, under contract at Villa until June 2025, will move on in the summer to either Newcastle or somewhere else.

"When a club brings in a player who plays in your position and can only play in that position, let’s be honest," Mills told the website Football Insider.

"It’s not like they brought in a midfielder or a forward player who can play in two or three separate positions, you’re a left-back and they brought in a left-back for £25m - the writing is on the wall.

“Clearly they think he’s better than you, so he’s going to get the chance to play those next six or seven games.

"If he does OK then he’s going to stay in the team and Digne is a good player so why would he not perform well enough to stay in the team?

“The manager thinks he’s better than him and has paid £25m.

"Does he hang around and hope he picks up a niggle or does he get away and go and play football?

“I think he’s made the right decision because otherwise he would have just sat there