According to The Telegraph, Manchester City keeper Joe Hart is a target for London club West Ham United as long as they can avoid relegation and stay in the Premier League. Hart is on loan at Torino and has already accepted that his Manchester City career is over with manager Pep Guardiola willing to listen to offers of £10 million and above from foreign clubs.
The fee could rise for their Premier League rivals by double but the Hammers hope by not being a title rival for City they could get Hart for a cut price. West Ham are considering a loan move for Chelsea goalkeeper Asmir Begovic in January because of the poor form of Adrian, who has lost his place to Darren Randolph.
Hart is keen to move back to England in order to keep his place in the national team but is enjoying his season in Italy. Asked about his future this week, Hart said, “I still don’t know, I’m still a Manchester City player, but until the summer I will only think about enjoying my season with Torino.”
Relegation would rule out a move for Hart and the threat of going down has contributed to the fact that the Hammers are looking at a number of potential loan deals for January including Begovic and midfielder Marouane Fellaini. The winter transfer window seems to be the only chance for Bilić to try and make full use of so that the Hammers won’t have to experience a catastrophic season after the one which had been their best in the Premier League history.
Their first choice goalie, Adrian, joined from Real Betis in 2013 and has performed well for the club up until this season. He was dropped by under-pressure manager Slaven Bilic after a blunder against Stoke City at the start of November. Since then, Darren Randolph has been the man trusted by Bilić to guard his goal.
The Republic Of Ireland goalkeeper settled in well but it was his mistake that gifted Liverpool a goal in the second half when they were trailing the game by 2-1. Randolph later atoned for the mistake by brilliantly saving Jordan Henderson’s long-range effort but Bilić seems to be determined to let one of the two goalkeepers leave the club at the end of the season to make room for a shot stopper.
Hart was one of the best keepers in the League despite Pep’s opinion and could be a brilliant coup if the Hammers can land him.
