Joe Hart HAS been dropped for Manchester City’s first game of the season.
City take on Sunderland in the day’s late kick off but England keeper Hart will have to make do with a spot on the bench as new boss Pep Guardiola has opted to start Willy Caballero between the sticks.
It’s a huge move by Guardiola – and could spell the beginning of the end of Hart’s career at the Etihad. He’s been first choice since 2007, but Guardiola is reportedly not convinced about Hart’s ability with the ball at his feet and a couple of high-profile Euro 2016 errors did not help.
The Spanish coach is said to be a fan of Barcelona’s Ter Stegen but City would have to stump up an implausible £68m to meet his release clause. The German was often understudy to Claudio Bravo at the Nou Camp last season.
TEAM NEWS with @haysworldwide #cityvsafc #mcfc pic.twitter.com/r1UUW6ivBw
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 13, 2016
Just to confirm in writing, there’s Caballero:
CITY XI | Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Kolarov, Clichy, Fernandinho, Silva (C), Nolito, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero #cityvsafc #mcfc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 13, 2016
And Hart is on the subs bench:
CITY SUBS | Hart, Zabaleta, Fernando, Navas, Delph, Otamendi, Iheanacho #cityvsafc #mcfc
— Manchester City (@ManCity) August 13, 2016
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Guardiola explained that much of his coaching talks with Hart are about controlling and distributing the ball. “We have the goalkeeping coach for [his hands],” he said.
“So we have had a chat about that. He has quality and he can do that… with time.
“I’m not saying he’s not able to do it. Maybe there are other goalkeepers with more quality of [doing] that. But Joe, with training, he can do it. With time. But his time is now. It’s not about what happens in six months, seven months.”
Joe Hart one of first players to follow Pep off @ManCity bus. pic.twitter.com/3zQ2sJ25A0
— Simon Stone (@sistoney67) August 13, 2016
Have we seen the last if Hart in a City shirt?
