After being told he doesn’t fit in Pep Guardiola’s idea of football, goalkeeper Joe Hart, 29, will leave Manchester City before the end of this transfer window which is 9 days away.
The England number one doesn’t have many options though, despite interest from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund as they couldn’t meet his wage demands even if they’d meet the transfer fee which is expected to be in the region of £20m. Same goes for Sevilla.
Everton are interested as they’re looking for a quality replacement for Tim Howard, and this deal looks like the most likely outcome as Joe Hart wouldn’t have to move from his Cheshire home if he signed for Everton, making everything much easier for the England goalkeeper.
However, Joe Hart has yet to decide whether he wants to make the move permanent or will he just go on loan to Everton while he waits for an offer from a bigger club. In either case, it’s quite likely Hart will join Everton.
English top players rarely go play abroad, and all the big clubs in England have the goalkeeper position taken – except for Everton. All this is making the Everton move look like a natural fit.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman wants to address the hole left by the departure of Tim Howard by signing a top goalkeeper and he wants to avoid those usual five to ten years of struggle the teams usually have to endure once a long-time goalkeeper retires. Jack Butland, Fraser Forster, Asmir Begović and Kasper Schmeichel are being considered for the role, but that was before the England #1 suddenly became available.
Meanwhile, the Hart to Everton move has been made possible by other moves. Jasper Cillessen signed for Barcelona from Ajax for a £12m fee, which means Barcelona are now ok with the Claudio Bravo move to Manchester City for £17m. And with the position of a first goalkeeper filled, Pep Guardiola can now let Joe Hart go.
Although Barcelona were expected to sign Valencia shot stopper Diego Alves, they signed Jasper Cillessen, 27, from Ajax. Since Marc-Andre ter Stegen is currently sidelined with an injury, Barca weren’t willing to let Claudio Bravo go before they secure a new signing.
Hart is contracted to City until 2019 and has spent a decade with the Manchester club, having joined from hometown side Shrewsbury in 2006. He made a total of 347 appearances for the club and lifted the BPL trophy in 2012 and 2014. Hart, 29, also has 63 caps for England.
