If Twitter is to be believed, Aston Villa made a solidified offer to Manchester City for the services of goalkeeper Joe Hart. The “proposed” deal is a loan move that turns permanent at an agreed price should Villa achieve promotion.
Joe Hart has been the talk of the summer over at Manchester City. With Pep Guardiola thoroughly unimpressed with Claudio Bravo in his maiden season, the Spaniard made a near-record deal for Benfica’s, Ederson Moraes.
Despite Joe Hart returning from a year on-loan at Torino, and the dismal form of Bravo, Guardiola is assuredly not allowing the England number one a chance to prove himself. As such, Manchester City are said to be looking to offload him on a permanent deal.
Problem is, England’s top clubs are settled at the goalkeeping position currently. City has the aforementioned Ederson and Bravo. Chelsea is squared away with Thibaut Courtois and Willy Caballero. Likewise, Arsenal has Petr Cech and Liverpool have three quality ‘keepers in Mignolet, Karius, and Danny Ward. Everton broke the bank for Jordan Pickford and Southampton is content with Fraser Forster.
Even the Premier League’s mid-table clubs are well suited at goalkeeper. The league is rich in goalkeeping talent: Asmir Begovic, Ben Foster, Tom Heaton, etc.
This brings us to Newcastle United, making their way back to the Premier League after a second division title. Rafa Benitez is interested, but not as a permanent move.
Manchester City have reportedly rejected Newcastle's interest in a loan move for goalkeeper Joe Hart.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 5, 2017
Gossip: https://t.co/tDvmxatUks pic.twitter.com/NQdV8Rn0fk
Seemingly, Joe Hart can’t find a starting gig in the Premier League. Some of this is due to Manchester City being difficult in negotiation. Part of it is Hart’s high wages and valuation as a long-time England starting ‘keeper. Finally, some of this is Hart’s shaky performance over the past 24 months.
That leaves us to Aston Villa. Club executives may or may not have brought forward a solidified offer to Manchester City:
Then there’s this: Odds were slashed for a Hart-to-Villa move.
Next: Jordan Veretout impresses in Villa pre-season
Verdict:
It’s so seemingly unlikely Joe Hart moves to the Championship in the midst of a World Cup year. Though, stranger things have happened. Maybe Hart feels he’ll lose the starting gig anyway before World Cup 2018 in Russia.
Aston Villa is making a worthy gamble in a loan-to-permanent inquiry. Premier League TV money mitigates any risk in the transfer fee that’s automatically triggered upon promotion. A loan move mitigates wage-bill risk as he could be in a Villa shirt for as little as 10 months.
Hart turned 30 back in April.