Earlier today, we learned that Manchester City's clearing their decks of goalkeepers is pretty extensive: Willy Caballero has left for Chelsea, Claudio Bravo is unwanted as even a second-choice and is set to be replaced by Pepe Reina, and Joe Hart will not be returning either: while Torino no longer want him on loan, West Ham United do.
And to prove just how badly they want him, they are chucking a shed-load of cash at Manchester City, just for the privilege of borrowing him for a year.
Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail has the line on how much they are paying for the loan fee: £4.5 million.
West Ham paying City around £4.5m for loan of Joe Hart.
— Jack Gaughan (@Jack_Gaughan) July 18, 2017
This is a pretty crazy amount of money. Considering Hart will play in a maximum of 36 league games (he can't face his parent club), they are paying £125,000 to play him per game. Add in the fact that they are paying his wages, and can't actually recoup their outlay with any resale value, it seems a lot of money for a goalkeeper who diminished, rather than enhanced, his reputation with Torino last season.
Hart made seven errors that led directly to goals last season, and the Tornio president confirmed in May that he had been disappointed with Hart's performances:
Hart made a few mistakes, especially when coming out for the ball.
He is an important goalkeeper. We probably didn’t expect so many mistakes from an England international… but he did some good things, too.
But West Ham are evidently backing him, which could mean a move for Darren Randolph, who has been linked with a move to Newcastle United.
