Steven Gerrard has lauded Matt Target for his ‘top-class’ response to losing his place in the Aston Villa defence to their January transfer Lucas Digne, via quotes by the Express & Star.
The Villa Park hierarchy moved to poach Digne from Premier League rivals Everton when a chance appeared earlier this month. They paid the Toffees £25m for the France full-back, who was also the subject of some interest from Chelsea, Newcastle and West Ham United.
Digne had spent the prior three-and-a-half years on Merseyside following an £18m move from Barcelona in 2018. He also established a firm reputation as one of the top-flight’s elite attacking wing-backs at Goodison Park. But he then fell out of favour under Rafa Benitez.
Gerrard wasted no time in axing Targett to afford Digne his Aston Villa debut at home to Manchester United. He also favoured the 28-year-old for the Villans’ trip to Goodison Park last time out. Digne marked his return to Everton by assisting Emi Buendia’s winning goal.
Targett was Aston Villa’s clear first-choice left-back before Gerrard swooped to complete a transfer for Digne. The 26-year-old had started 17 of the Villans’ 19 Premier League games, only watching their victories over Newcastle and Leicester City from the sidelines.
Gerrard loves Targett response to Aston Villa axe after Digne transfer
Dean Smith chose to rest Targett against Newcastle, while Gerrard was without the former England U21 star against Leicester after sustaining a head injury against Manchester City.
Gerrard is likely to stick with Digne over Targett when Aston Villa return to action against Leeds on February 9. But he is thrilled to still have Smith’s £11m signing from Southampton to offer crucial depth in what he expects will be a frantic run of fixtures for the Villans.
“I’m the lucky one because I’ve got two top-class left-backs,” he said. “Matt’s pedigree, we believe he’s a really strong Premier League left-back. To have Lucas Digne and Matt Targett makes my life and my job a lot easier, so we’re delighted with that.
“We’ve set the challenge and the gauntlet to Matt to take the fight to Lucas for the position and during the month of February, the games are going to come thick and fast. So, we’re going to need two top left-backs.
“That’s the way I see it. I’m happy with having both options. The reaction from Matt from coming out of the team has been top-class, but we expected nothing different because he’s been really good since we’ve come in.”
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