Dubai: England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart’s spectacular fall from grace was confirmed on Tuesday when he joined Italy’s Torino on loan until the end of the season.
The 29-year-old shot-stopper had been out of favour at City since the arrival of new manager Pep Guardiola. He was dropped from first to third choice keeper behind new £17 million (Dh82 million) signing Claudio Bravo from Barcelona and Willy Cabellero.
Hart’s agent Jonathan Barnett told Tuttosport on Tuesday: “Yes, Joe Hart will play at Torino. It’s done. He has said ‘yes’ to the club and now Manchester City have given the OK. It’s all true, it’s certain.”
Hart is currently on international duty with England but has been given permission to fly to Italy to resolve his future.
A loan move to Premier League strugglers Sunderland was also on the table after interest from both Everton and Sevilla petered out. But Hart opted for a new start in Italy, where he will become the first English goalkeeper to play in Serie A since the league began in 1929.
The transfer marks a dramatic decline for Hart who has gone from being a two-time Premier League-winning keeper — who reached the semi-finals of last season’s Uefa Champions League — to guarding the nets at a mid-table Serie A side, which finished 12th out of 20 teams last season.
What’s changed in three months you might ask? Well aside from an atrocious display with England at Euro 2016 where Hart was responsible for two startling errors against Wales and Iceland, Guardiola also come in and stressed the need for him to improve with the ball at his feet.
Pep’s teams are renowned for keeping possession and starting attacking movements from the back. But it remains to be seen if Guardiola’s penchant for sweeper-keepers was just an excuse to get rid of Hart.
After all, Guardiola has a track record of axing egos, having got rid of Ronaldinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona, while showing a preference for more humble characters in the dressing room.
Although Hart will be the first English keeper to play in Serie A, he’s by no means the first Englishman to ply his trade in Italy. In fact he’s not even the first British player to go from Manchester City to Torino.
Scottish striker Denis Law famously made the move in 1961 but struggled to settle. Not only did he almost kill himself by driving around a roundabout the wrong way, but he also didn’t get on with the overly defensive style of play and lasted just one season, scoring 10 goals in 27 appearances before joining Manchester United, where he went on to become a club legend.
Torino — who live under the shadow of their city rivals Juventus — are currently seventh in Serie A this season after taking three points from the first two games.
Seven-time Serie A winners, Torino’s glory days were in the 1940s when they won five of those titles. Their last crown was in 1976 but recent years have been far harsher on the club, with spells out of Serie A and even being declared bankrupt in 2005.
Hart could make his Serie A debut away to Atalanta on September 11 but there’s no guarantee he will get straight into Sinisa Mihajlovic’s squad ahead of their current No.1 Daniele Padelli.
Padelli himself may opt for a transfer if made to sit on the bench, and Fiorentina, Atalanta and Sunderland are all set to swoop before the transfer deadline closes on Wednesday night.
