Joe Hart has revealed how he tried to convince Pep Guardiola that he deserved a chance to prove he could remain at Manchester City after being told he didn't feature in the new manager's plans.
Hart's City career was ended when Guardiola joined the club in the summer of 2016, with the Catalan prioritising a goalkeeper more comfortable with the ball at his feet. Guardiola signed Claudio Bravo to initially replace Hart, before bringing in current No. 1 Ederson in the summer of 2017.
Hart revealed he felt the writing could be on the wall for him at the Etihad when Guardiola's appointment was confirmed in February 2016 and then returned to pre-season early after that summer's European Championship to discuss his future with the club's new manager.
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Speaking on the latest episode of the In the Stiffs podcast, to be released in full on Tuesday, Hart has revealed details of that conversation and how he tried to change Guardiola's opinion.
“I just felt it coming, the Euros didn’t go great for me, I had a very poor Euros that year. I got myself back in as soon as I could and I knew I was going to put it on his toes as to what was going on," Hart said.
“It was in China, I flew out early, I wanted to get in the door and have this conversation. He was very knowledgeable on my background, very knowledgeable on what we did, how I played football, it was a two-hour conversation that kind of ended with him saying ‘I can’t see this working’.
“I said ‘I thought that might be the idea, I don’t agree with you’. He said ‘I’ll be the first person to be proved wrong but what I see in you isn’t what I want from my goalkeeper’.
“I was like ‘it’s all very well saying that, but I’ve never been asked to do the kind of things I know you like your goalkeepers to do, so I think it’s only fair I be given the opportunity'. He said ‘of course you’ll be given the opportunity, but…’. As soon as there are any buts at the end you know there’s a decision."
Hart revealed he was desperate to be coached by Guardiola and wanted the opportunity to try and learn a new way of playing the game for a goalkeeper, but also accepts why the decision was made.
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“I wanted the opportunity to be coached by one of the best at it," Hart told In the Stiffs during a detailed chat about his City career.
"Of course I didn’t know how to do it, why would I know how to do something that I’d never been asked to do or taught to do? I suppose he was right, I couldn’t do it, he couldn’t just drop me into a team to play like he wanted to at that moment in time.
“I didn’t agree with it, but looking back and even at the time, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I’d love to be here and be a part of it, but if that’s not what you see we need to work out the best way to go.
“I couldn’t say to him ‘are you mad, just watch me go out there and play this exact system’, I didn’t know it, not one of us knew it, but goalkeeper is a very specific position and he was ahead of his time in making it that position, so the fact he knew he couldn’t just drop me into it that was enough for him.
“It was taken away from me, but so what? I’m not bigger than anyone and if that’s my path then that’s my path. The people of Manchester City will forever be in my heart, I’ll forever be grateful for that, but the team, the hierarchy, they’re businessmen."
Hart revealed his move to Torino on loan that summer came after moves to some big clubs in the Premier League and in Europe had been blocked due to demands over fees.
“The season had started and I was on the bench, he’d put Willy Caballero in goal, no disrespect to Willy but it was a move to say to me ‘you are not playing’," he said.
“I knew I had to go but stuff kept going wrong, it was done and dusted here then there was a loan fee. I was close to a couple, then I was away with England, it needed to be done.
“[Clubs had] already planned to do what they needed to do. I had four years left on a big deal, even to take wages on was tough in a structure where things had already been sorted, let alone buy me.
“Then it was floated to me ‘have you heard of Torino?’ I watched Italian football as a kid, but I was thinking how I can be available to Torino when I’m being blocked to these huge clubs in the Premier League and in Europe. Financially it can’t work, but it can work for Torino?"
The full episode of the In the Stiffs podcast featuring Joe Hart's memories of his time at Manchester City will be released on Tuesday, March 29.
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