Wolverhampton Wanderers are reportedly interested in signing Aston Villa left-back Matt Targett, who is currently on loan at Newcastle United.

What's the word?

That is according to the latest report from 90min, who stated that Molineux is one of several possible destinations for the 26-year-old.

Leeds United and Leicester City are also mentioned as potential suitors, although they added that Targett - who makes around £35k per week, as per Salary Sport - would prefer to remain at Newcastle.

On the chalkboard

With Fernando Marcal set to leave at the end of the season with his contract expiring, Wolves have the opportunity to move for a new left-sided full-back in this summer's transfer window.

The 33-year-old appears to be headed back to his homeland, with Brazilian Serie A club Botafogo poised to pick him up. That just leaves Rayan Ait-Nouri and Jonny Otto in the equation of Targett's potential competition for the left wing-back berth.

Since the arrival of Lucas Digne at Aston Villa, Targett was cast aside and managed to seal a loan move to join Eddie Howe's exciting project at St James' Park.

The 26-year-old, who has been dubbed "tremendous" by Aaron Stokes and "a beast" by James Hendicott on Twitter, has rejuvenated his career at the Tyneside club and fits Howe's 4-3-3 system perfectly.

His passing this season is what sets him apart from the likes of Ait-Nouri and Jonny, with the Englishman averaging five progressive passes per game, with 3.89 passes into the final third and an average progressive passing distance of 354.9 per game. Those returns see him ranked between the 85th and 88th percentile amongst positionally similar players in Europe's top five leagues, as per FBRef.

Compare that with Marcal and you can see that the Englishman would be an upgrade for Wolves. The Brazilian averages just over three progressive passes per game, with 1.73 into the final third, and a progressive passing distance of 250.17 per match. Those figures rank him in the 30th percentile or lower among position peers for each metric, as per FBRef.

With Targett's creative statistics in mind, the idea of him featuring as a wing-back in Lage's 3-4-3 system makes for an exciting potential proposition. For instance, his match average of 2.24 shot-creating actions would almost certainly increase in a system where he is granted even more freedom to attack.

Although it is said that the Aston Villa loanee would reportedly prefer to stay at Newcastle, a move to Molineux could be prosperous for both him and Wolves.

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