West Ham are reportedly set to dip into the free agent market this summer, Matt Targett could be an option. 

West Ham reportedly need to raise £150m in transfer fees this summer to balance the books. This means we probably won’t be spending anywhere near that on incomings, especially because we’re in the Championship.

At left-back with Diouf expected to leave, Oliver Scarles is guaranteed to stick around, but apart from that, there isn’t really anyone else. Ezra Mayers can play out on the left, but he will be looking for minutes in his natural central defensive position this season.

A more senior player to compete with Scarles for the starting position at left back could be a great idea.

There are a lot of options for that role, some unrealistic ones like Leonardo Spinazzola, Raphael Guerreiro, Aaron Martin and Sead Kolasinac. However, there are also some more likely targets.

One of those would be Matt Targett. The 30-year-old is leaving Newcastle United this summer ater initially joining from Aston Villa five years ago.

He was a very decent servant for the Geordies in the top flight before losing his place in the team to players like England Internationals Lewis Hall, Dan Burn, and Valentino Livramento.

Due to his lack of game time, he joined Middlesbrough on loan last season and he was very solid. He played 46 times scoring 4 times and assisting 4 times as they reached the play-off final.

He isn’t a flashy player, we all know him, he’s very tidy defensively, pretty handy in attack, but most importantly his reliability in both availability and lack of mistakes would be important.

He could be the perfect player to bring in for the left back position alongside Ollie Scarles. It wouldn’t be like starter and back up, they would be competing which is exactly what we need with a busier schedule than we’ve been used to over the last couple of years.

It’s not flashy, but thats not we need at left back, we all think the Championship is an excellent opportunity for Scarles but we can’t rely on just him, he needs someone to push him to improve like everyone does.

Matt Targett could be the experienced head we need to do that.