A Joe Hart transfer may be on the cards, as he looks set to be on his way out of Manchester City, with Paul Joyce of the Express reporting that Hart won't play for City in their Premier League opener against Sunderland.
Joyce reports that Pep has decided to pick Willy Caballero ahead of his Premier League bow against the Black Cats, and will press ahead in his efforts to sign Marc-Andre Ter Stegen from Barcelona. Hart, it seems, does not fit Pep's model of goalkeeper as sweeper/death-defying playmaker.
The fact Hart may not be Pep's first-choice was borne out in the run-up to today's game, with Guardiola refusing to give him his full confidence in his pre-match briefing:
With a goalkeeper I talk to him – ‘Here is the ball at your feet’ – and about what he has to do [with it] rather than what he has to do with his hands. We have the goalkeeping coach for that.
So we have had a chat about that. He has quality and he can do that...with time.
I’m not saying he’s not able to do it. Maybe there are other goalkeepers with more quality of [doing] that. But Joe, with training, he can do it. With time. But his time is now. It’s not about what happens in six months, seven months.
It appears that he may be learning these skills elsewhere, with Everton interested in taking Hart on loan according to Joyce, who is one of the most respected journalists on the north-west beat.
It would cap a miserable few months for Hart, who endured a miserable Euro 2016, culminating in the greatest calamity of all: defeat to Iceland.
Still, anytime Willy Caballero is picked over Joe Hart, it does give us a chance to break out arguably the finest football tweet ever sent:
See Also: Spurs Star Dele Alli Explains Why He Won't Be Wearing 'Alli' On His Back This Season
See Also: John Hartson Reveals The Touching Words From Martin O'Neill That Made Him Join Celtic
