Forgotten 28-year-old Newcastle man left behind as squad undergo pre-season prep in Germany
The bulk of Newcastle United's squad are taking advantage of Adidas' £850m World of Sports facility in Germany to get their pre-season preparations underway.
There are several big names still missing from the camp after being given extra time off due to representing their country at international tournaments.
Bruno Guimaraes, Miguel Almiron, Fabian Schar, Martin Dubravka, Kieran Trippier and Anthony Gordon are all due to return before the team jets off to Japan for two friendlies.
However, there's one player who has been Kevin MacAllistered and been left Home Alone at the Benton training ground to work on his fitness as spotted by Newcastle World.
Matt Targett made almost as many appearances in half a season on loan as he has in two full seasons after permanent switch
Matt Targett - who is on course to being the biggest waste of money since Xisco - is working on his fitness after missing the bulk of last season with various injuries.
The former Aston Villa man joined on an initial loan in January 2022 as part of the Eddie Howe revolution that kept the Magpies in the Premier League. He made 16 Premier League appearances for Newcastle earning plenty of praise from fans and fellow players who demanded he make his loan move permanent.
In the summer, Newcastle fans (and Bruno Guimaraes) got their wish and Targett's move was made permanent. Since then, however, Targett has managed just 20 more Premier League outings in two seasons.
What happens next with Matt Targett?
At this point, we're not sure what the plan is with Targett, but from our point of view, we just hope that he's working on his fitness for his new club because his £100k-a-week wages are eating into Newcastle's bottom line.
If Eddie Howe is determined to keep him, which would be a very typically Howe thing to do, then can we at least put him on a pay-as-you-play contract?
We're just a little bit frustrated with him, can you tell? Who knows, he might come back stronger than ever and prove us wrong, but we're not holding our breath.
