With nine games left in the Premier League for Aston Villa, the club is in an excellent position to qualify for the Champions League next term.
This would have been seen as unachievable by the Villa faithful after the 5-1 opening-day defeat to Newcastle United, but the progress over the season under Unai Emery has been fantastic.
In recent years, the club has been clear with the intended direction with their on-field additions, with the club now looking to sign a handful of gems with great potential.
However, they’ve also not been afraid to raise funds by selling individuals at the right price, with one particular player’s value plummeting to six times less than Matty Cash since leaving.
Matty Cash’s current transfer value
In the summer of 2020, Villa signed Cash for £16m from Nottingham Forest, with the view of making him the long-term right back at the club.
Since then, the Polish defender has made 136 appearances for the Villans, making 40 this season alone up to now and developing into a Premier League-quality defender.
This season, the 26-year-old has continued his progress, building a reputation for impacting the game in attack, which has seen him score four goals and pick up two assists across all competitions.
With that in mind, Cash’s estimated value is now £26m according to CIES Football Observatory, which makes him one of the most valuable right-backs in the league.
However, unfortunately, that cannot be said for one individual who left the club two years ago.
Matt Targett’s value in 2024
Matt Targett’s time at Villa Park can be described as steady, with the left-back being a reliable option over his 89 appearances for Villa.
His best season in claret and blue was his final campaign at the club in the 2020/21 season, where the 28-year-old started every single Premier League game that season and played an average of 90 minutes per game. This level of consistency and availability saw Newcastle United acquire his signature in the summer of 2022, after spending six months on loan at the club prior to his permanent move.
Targett signed for the Magpies in a deal worth £15m, but fast forward to this season, and the number 13 has started just once in the league due to a hamstring injury, which has seen him miss 124 days of action and 25 matches.
The former Villa ace also missed 15 matches last campaign due to injury, and his lack of minutes has caused his value to drop significantly, to the point where he’s now worth just over six times less than Cash.
| Targett vs Villa’s Lowest Value First-team Players | |
| Player | Value |
| Diego Carlos | £4m |
| Tyrone Mings | £4m |
| Callum Chambers | £4m |
| Robin Olsen | £4m |
| Matt Targett | £4m |
As you can see by the table above, if Targett were still at Villa today, he would be among the least valuable players in the squad, worth the same amount as Robin Olsen and Callum Chambers, for example, who have one league start between them this season.
The fact that the club cashed in on the defender for £15m, seems to have been a masterclass, especially as they’ve strengthened the left-back role with Lucas Digne and Alex Moreno since, who have had much more of an impact on their side than Targett has had at Newcastle over the last two seasons.
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