Saints have completed the sale of Matt Targett to Aston Villa for £15m.

The 23-year-old has brought to an end his 15-year association with the club by opting for a switch to the newly promoted side.

The sizeable fee marks a great bit of business for Saints, who, as previously reported by the Daily Echo, were committed to selling either Ryan Bertrand of Targett this summer.

Eastleigh-born Targett joined Saints back in 2003 at the age of just eight.

He worked his way up through the youth ranks, eventually being named in a first team matchday squad a decade later, although he didn’t come off the bench in the victory against Bristol City.

The 23-year-old eventually made his debut almost a year later in August 2014 when he played the full game against Millwall in the League Cup.

Targett’s Premier League bow came a month later, as he replaced Dusan Tadic in the final moments of a 2-1 St Mary’s win over QPR.

The former Saint was handed his maiden top-flight start by ex-boss Ronald Koeman in December against Chelsea because of Ryan Bertrand being unable to play.

Thanks to his breakout season, Targett was named as the club’s young player of the year in 2014/15.

His efforts were rewarded with a new five-year deal in 2017.

However, with Bertrand in the side, the youngster found it difficult to dislodge him at left back and in January 2018 he joined Fulham on a six-month loan.

Targett played a key role in helping the Cottagers gain promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.

In total, the local lad made 63 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring once.