For West Ham United supporters hoping for a quick exit out of the Championship, a winger from 17th-place Stoke City and a 30-year-old left-back are perhaps not signings that would get the juices flowing.
But do not underestimate the quality, or the value, of Sorba Thomas and Matt Targett.
Plenty of cynics did that at the beginning of last season, after all, and ended the campaign choking on humble pie.
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West Ham have identified Stoke talisman Sorba Thomas as a potential replacement for Crysencio Summerville, according to club insider ExWhuEmployee.
Football League World reported around 24 hours later, meanwhile, that Newcastle misfit Matt Targett is an option to potentially replace El Hadji Malick Diouf should the Senegal international leave after just one season in the capital.
Hold your cynicism, please, and let us explain why two deals which appear a little underwhelming on the face of it could prove to be pretty inspired.
West Ham United eye Matt Targett after superb Middlesbrough season
The ‘deadly’ Sorba Thomas was arguably the best crosser of a ball in the whole of the Championship last season. He certainly achieved what Summerville never did at Leeds, even in his Player of the Year campaign of 2023/24; recording double figures for both goals [10] and assists [11].
But if Thomas was the best crosser in the league, Matt Targett wasn’t far behind, on loan at Newcastle’s north east neighbours Middlesbrough.
Thomas created the most chances in the whole of the league. Targett comes in at 13th, an impressive placing for a full-back.
The former Southampton and Fulham leftie would have recorded more than his four assists, meanwhile, if the Middlesbrough forwards had not been so infamously profligate. His ‘expected assists’ tally was actually in excess of six.
Furthermore, Targett had never scored more than one goal in a single league campaign before moving to Riverside. He ended 2025/26 with four, his stand-out moment a beautifully placed volley in a 3-1 win away at Birmingham City in March.
This is not only a footballer at the peak of his powers, but one putting up career-best numbers.
“I’m very, very happy for Matt,” Boro boss Kim Hellberg said after that Monday night triumph. “He’s an absolutely fantastic human being. He smiles every day, he does everything for the team. “
He’s 10 out of 10 in almost everything. It’s a pleasure to work with him.”
Sorba Thomas could form a fearsome partnership with Targett
Like Thomas, Targett is a superb set-piece taker. He also brings a real varied threat to the left flank, either whipping in looping balls from deep or hitting the byline and executing inch-perfect cut-backs.
Malick Diouf earned comparisons with David Beckham – albeit a left-footed version – in his early days at West Ham. His accuracy from wide positions would wane dramatically following that superb start, however.
Three assists in his first five games, followed by two in his next 27.
Calling Targett an upgrade would maybe be a stretch. But what Diouf offers in untapped potential, Targett could match in proven, guaranteed quality in the upper echelons of England’s second tier.
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Between them, Thomas and Targett produced 31 goals and assists last season while creating 155 goalscoring chances.
That Targett performed so impressively for a Middlesbrough side with the second-highest possession average in the Championship, meanwhile, feels like a particularly good omen. West Ham will come up against plenty of low-blocks next term and will find themselves in need of an expert lock-picker.
Bringing in Targett, and pairing him with league’s top assist creator in Sorba Thomas, should ensure that goalscoring chances are seldom in short supply even against massed ranks of defenders.
OK, yes, Targett in particular might not be a signing with the long-term in mind. If West Ham secure an immediate return to the Premier League, bringing in a younger replacement with a higher ceiling would likely be one of Nils Koppen’s first challenges in 2027.
But, right now, all that matters is building a squad capable of ensuring their return to the Championship is no more than a flying visit.
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