Fulham are set to offer £8m for the Southampton full back Matt Targett, according to a Daily Mirror report this afternoon.

The Whites haven’t given up hope of being reunited with the former England under-21 international who spent the second half of last season on loan at Craven Cottage, despite having a bid for the left back rejected last month. Targett was reportedly angry at not being able to discuss a permanent return to London and is unwilling to sit on the Southampton bench behind first choice Ryan Bertrand at St. Mary’s this season.

Slavisa Jokanovic has made the recruitment of a left back a major target during the summer as he wants to be able to play talented teenager Ryan Sessegnon on the left wing when Fulham return to the Premier League next month. Fulham have failed in a bid to land Werder Bremen’s Swedish international Ludgwig Augustinsson, who they scouted during the recent World Cup in Russia, and are now reviving their long-running pursuit of a permanent deal for Targett.

The attack-minded full back, who struck up a great understanding with Sessegnon down the left flank during his successful loan spell last term, made 21 appearances for Fulham as Jokanovic’s side won promotion via the Championship play-offs. Eastleigh-born Targett, who came through the ranks at Southampton, has made 42 first-team appearances for the Saints but enjoyed his taste of regular first-team football and now has ambitions to prove himself worth a starting place at Premier League level.