West Ham have announced they have signed Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart on an initial season-long loan deal with an option to make the move permanent next summer.
The Hammers have been keen to make a statement signing this summer and believe they have now achieved that after convincing Hart to sacrifice European football for the second season in a row.
Hart spent last season on loan at Italian side Torino after being deemed surplus to requirements by Pep Guardiola and any ambition of forcing his way back into the fold was ended after City made Ederson the most expensive goalkeeper in British football history earlier this summer.
The 30-year-old’s arrival will now almost certainly see Adrian leave the club. The Spaniard dropped down the pecking order last season and will now be forced to find first-team football elsewhere with Hart the undisputed No.1 in east London.
Joe Hart: Of the 13 goalkeepers to make more than 15 Serie A appearances in 2017, Hart had the worst save success rate (57.8%) pic.twitter.com/5UHoXzrv2N
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) July 16, 2017
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“It’s important for me to play football and to get the opportunity to come here and play is absolutely awesome,” Hart told the club’s official website. “To be playing in the Premier League for a big club like West Ham, I’m really looking forward to the season.
“I’ve always loved the club. I think you’ll struggle to find anyone, apart from the direct opposing fans around London, who doesn’t love the club. It’s got something about it, it’s got a lot of history and I’ve always loved playing against West Ham.
“We’ve moved into the London Stadium and we’ve got Slaven in charge who I’ve spoken to and I’ve always enjoyed as a manager. He obviously did a good job with Croatia and he’s doing a good job here, so to get the opportunity to come here, it wasn’t really a hard decision.”
Hart’s loan stint in Torino ended fairly badly and the England No.1 was even lambasted by the club’s president for the amount of mistakes he made.
In fact, only one goalkeeper made more in Serie A last term than Hart (5), while of the 13 goalkeepers that made more than 15 Serie A appearances, Hart had the worst save success rate (57.8%).
For more stats on Joe Hart, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
