Joe Hart is now back at Manchester City after his season-long loan at Torino and is still unwanted by Pep Guardiola. West Ham are said to betraying to sign him, although is Hart he player he used to be? The two free kicks Leigh Griffiths scored for Scotland raised further questions about whether Hart should remain England's number one ahead of Butland and Forster. They were great efforts, but should a top keeper have been beaten twice on different sides from that range? Hart was also at fault last summer for Iceland's winner against England in the Euros and Guardiola clearly doesn't rate him, which is worrying.
But Hart can't suddenly have turned into a bad goalkeeper. He's capable of brilliant saves and has won the title twice at Manchester City, plus two League Cups and one FA Cup. At 30 Hart is a good age for a goalkeeper and should have another eight years left at the top. He's learned his trade the hard way at Shrewsbury Town and had a very successful loan season at Birmingham. He doesn't look the sort of character to turn into a Fancy Dan and his attitude should still be sound.
Perhaps his recent problems are more about confidence and he simply needs to feel wanted. It could be that with a supportive manager in Bilic and less expectation at West Ham he'd become the country's top keeper again. Yes, there's a case of going for a younger keeper like Sunderland's Pickford, but Hart would be an upgrade on Adrian and Randolph. He is used to winning trophies and is a strong character who can organise a defence so it's probably a gamble worth taking. Though with the reservations about his recent form, perhaps a loan deal for an initial season with an option to buy might be the ideal scenario.
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