Liverpool will set their sights on the future with Southampton’s Matthew Targett, after releasing Alberto Moreno at the end of this month, according to TEAMtalk.

Indeed, the Reds are apparently ready to raid Southampton once again, after signing Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk, Nathaniel Clyne, Dejan Lovren and Adam Lallana from them in recent years.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is thought to be looking for competition for Andrew Robertson, who arguably had his best season yet for Liverpool, booking himself a place in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the first time, and former England under-21 star Targett is being considered.

It is reported that the Southampton youngster would consider a move to Anfield but has been encouraged by England coaches to seek regular first-team football elsewhere in a bid to stake his claim in the international first-team setup.

Targett struggled to overthrow Ryan Bertrand from the starting spot last season, making just 21 appearances in total, 13 of which were in the starting line-up. But that isn’t to say he doesn’t possess the ability to develop into a star.

The 23-year-old most definitely has age on his side, and his statistics aren’t half bad either. According to WhoScored, he produced on average 1.7 tackles (compared to Robertson’s 2.2), 1.7 interceptions (almost double Robertson’s 0.8), 1.9 clearances (Robertson: 1.3) and was dribbled past 0.9 times – the same amount as his prospective Liverpool senior.

In terms of his attacking ability, he doesn’t fare much worse, either. Targett provided 0.7 shots per game and 1.4 key passes (compared to Robertson’s 0.4 and 1.4, respectively), and while his assists and dribbling statistics do pale in comparison to the flying Scotsman’s, there isn’t many in the league that would come out on top in that contest.

One of the major themes of Klopp's work in making Liverpool a force to be reckoned with again has been his ability to pick players up from the lower half of the Premier League and mould them into better players. Robertson himself is perhaps the key example of this but Georginio Wijandlum and Xherdan Shaqiri have fit the collective well after moving from relegated sides.

Even as a potential back-up, this move makes complete sense from Liverpool’s perspective.

Liverpool fans, would you be happy with Targett providing competition? Do you think there’s any chance anyone could dislodge Robertson? Let us know in the comments below…