Manchester City: Joe Hart could move overseas
By Tarek Hisham
Manchester City keeper and current (former?) England number one Joe Hart is reportedly open to a move overseas to regain his starter status
According to Sky Sports, Manchester City keeper Joe Hart is on his way out of the Etihad and is willing to accept a move overseas. Hart appears to have formally lost his place as City’s starting keeper under Pep Guardiola who prefers former Malaga man and owner of one of the cooler names in the Premier League, Willy Caballero.
Caballero helped City win the League Cup last season with a heroic performance in the final against Liverpool and has started the club’s first two games this season. Hart was the assumed number one going in to the summer but a horrid Euro 2016 campaign with England has lead to questions about his ability and whether or not he was the number one for City and England based more on reputation than talent.
There are even whispers that he will be left off the next England squad in favor of Southampton’s Fraser Forster, West Brom’s Ben Foster, and Stoke City’s Jack Butland. How the mighty have fallen indeed.
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Hart has always been a fiery keeper and many believe that this attitude gets him out of position on set pieces and tunnel cam speeches and penalty antics can only get you so far. He is undoubtedly a talented keeper but if manager Pep Guardiola does not think he can cut in Sky Blue anymore then he will be on his way out sooner than later.
Sky Sports suggests that Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, and Everton are all targeting Joe Hart but Manchester City would surely prefer to sell him to a club that is not a direct rival in the Premier League. Of the three, the move to Everton would help Hart in his hopes of retaining the England number one shirt but a move to Dortmund would give him a bigger stage to play on.
Dortmund is a constant in the Champions League and is the only true threat to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga so Hart could also use that as a springboard back in to relevance for new England manager Sam Allardyce.
Claudio Bravo of Barcelona is rumored to be the replacement for Hart but Marc-Andre ter Stegen is injured and that could hold off the move and a subsequent move away for Hart. Either way he is looking to start somewhere and could raise a stink around the club and cause issues for Guardiola if he is not sold.
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The alternative is that Hart could wait for Caballero to make mistakes the way he did against Chelsea FC in the FA Cup last season and fight for his place back in the first team. He is a known commodity and two-time Premier League champion so he has the pedigree to do so. At this point it is all about what Joe Hart wants to do and whether the club will oblige to his wishes of leaving or staying.