Manchester City: What now for Joe Hart

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For over a decade he has been on the books at Manchester City. An ever-present for two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups. As Manchester City began to challenge at the top of the League, he was a rock between the sticks.

When Pep Guardiola came in, the first thing he did was to drop Joe Hart. On the back of a poor showing at Euro 2016 it seemed the Englishman wasn’t as loved by his new manager as he was by the clubs fans.

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Bringing in Claudio Bravo and shipping out Joey to Italy didn’t sit well with the City faithful. An error prone Bravo didn’t help, and calls for the recall of Hart became louder. Pep wasn’t moved, and didn’t see Joe Hart as having the talents required to be his keeper.

It wasn’t as if Hart was making a claim while he was in Torino either. He too made error after error as his confidence seemed to leave him. Summer came with Torino and City both deciding on other options for the following campaign.

For City it was Ederson. The Brazilian was exactly what Bravo wasn’t, good with feet but also confident and a half decent shot stopper. Meanwhile, Hart was being loaned out to West Ham, joining Pablo Zabaleta at the London Stadium.

Sunday the two sides meet, with Hart unable to play against his parent club. Pablo will be there no doubt, but for Hart the visit must be bittersweet. Premier League Champions again, but this time without having to rely on his instinctive saves. The side has morphed from one which needed a strong defence to one where the game is played in the opposition half for large periods.

Depending on which publication you read West Ham are either not interested, or undecided, on taking Hart next season. Contracted to City until the end of next season, he may want to run down his contract at City, to get a higher wage moving on a free.

But the England keeper, who just turned 31, needs to be careful. Dropped by City he has now had two years of less than impressive spells on loan. This has led to calls for him not to even go to Russia with the England World Cup squad.