England number one Joe Hart has brutally admitted he knows he has no long-term future at Manchester City following the club's decision to loan him out to Torino at the start of the season.
Hart has revealed in a candid interview withSky Sportsthat he knows he's not going to be able to earn a place back in the team, because manager Pep Guardiola and club decision makerslet him know before he departed that he was not in his plans.
Joe Hart tells @SkyJohnnyP that his long-term future lies away from Man City. Full interview here: https://t.co/gC46yrDvVe pic.twitter.com/Q4cfQQGNPL
He said:"This is the second time I've gone out on a season-long loan.I've not been sent here to see how I do or see if I improve. I've been sent out because I wasn't wanted.
"I'm not here to prove what I can do, I'm here because I need to look elsewhere and I didn't have a chance to sort anything permanently. The way I look at it, I want to do as well as I can for Torino and if somebody comes in for me I don't think Manchester City are going to stand in my way.
"I came in after the other players because of the Euros, and when we first had a conversation he said he had his reservations about me. I shook his hand, I said it was professionally honest, but not what I wanted to hear.
"I said I wanted to work for him and see what happens but I got the impression that it wasn't really going anywhere. I got the feeling I wasn't going to play. I spoke to the chief executive and said: 'You want me to go don't you?' He didn't stop me with what I was saying.
"I'm up for a fight but you've got to be clever and pick your battle. It was the opinion of a guy who has got a lot of power at the club and I wasn't on the right side of it.
"The goalkeeper he signed [Claudio Bravo] was a good goalkeeper. He liked Willy [Caballero] as well, he liked Angus [Gunn] and I wouldn't say there was an awful lot coming in my direction so I thought I needed to go elsewhere and I'm really grateful to Torino for giving me the opportunity.
"I would have backed myself but I prefer thinking about how I can help Torino now rather than 'what if' or 'I could have done that'."
Hart also revealed that he somewhat rushed into the move to Torino because he had little time to decide at the end of the transfer window, but that he had been given glowing reviews by former teammates who'd featured in Serie A previously.
He added:"I spoke to Micah Richards as he's played in Serie A and he said, 'You'll love it.' Then I spoke to Patrick Vieira who'd played at Juventus and knew the city and he told me it was a good football city.
"Aleksandar Kolarov knows Sinisa Milhajlovic so I spoke with him - he calls him 'Mister' - they all call him 'Mister' here, not boss. I liked the way Mihajlovic spoke and he said if I really wanted to come I was welcome.
"I love football and I told him that I was desperate to play. I'm 29 and in a blink of an eye so much has happened already and I know it'll be over in another blink of an eye."
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