I've had a 'mad' three years at Newcastle United - now Leeds United have asked to sign me
Newcastle United left-back Matt Targett has opened up on his injury troubles that ruled him out for over a year.
Targett suffered a hamstring injury in the Magpies’ 3-0 win away to Manchester United in November 2023 before going on to tear his Achilles when he returned in March.
The 29-year-old missed the whole of pre-season but was named on the bench for the Premier League opener against Southampton at St James’ Park.
A few days later, Targett appeared for the under-21s in their Tyne-Wear derby draw with Sunderland, but it wasn’t long before he was handed another setback as he suffered from a bad episode of eczema.
It wasn’t until Boxing Day, 13 months on, whenTargett finally made his first-team return as a late substitute in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa. He then made his first start in the FA Cup third round win over Bromley earlier this month.
Matt Targett opens up about his injury hell
"It's been mad,” admitted Targett. “Since I've joined, some of the injuries I've had, it's just crazy.
"When I did my hamstring away at Manchester United and then recovered from that, I think I was back for a week or two and then somehow I got a tear in my Achilles so that set me back another three or four months.
“Going into this season, I knew I'd miss all of pre-season with the team but would try and get back in and around the team for the first games.
"In my head, I was like, 'OK, It's not great that I've missed all the pre-season games, but I'm not missing too much of the season'. I was just focusing on trying to come back as strong as possible for that and then I had the eczema flare-up, which was literally out of the blue, and that knocked me for six so that set me back a bit.
"Since I've come back from that, I've just been gradually building my workload in terms of training consistently with the team, getting a few minutes with the 21s and then the game against Bromley was the icing on the cake.
“It's been a difficult period, for sure, so it was nice to play again."
Targett has started just 12 matches since joining permanently from Villa for £15million in the summer of 2022. In the previous four months when he was on loan, the full-back started 16 games.
He now finds himself behind the likes of Lewis Hall, Lloyd Kelly and Dan Burn in the pecking order. It’s understood Newcastle are open to offers for the player, with Leeds United among the clubs to have submitted an enquiry.