Joe Hart is already looking ahead to a season in Serie A after completing a loan switch to Torino from Manchester City.
Just weeks after being unceremoniously dumped by Pep Guardiola, the England goalkeeper has left the Etihad and has spoken of his excitement at trying his hand abroad for the first time in his career.
“Torino’s offer came at the right moment for me, in the right manner, and I’m very excited to test myself in an important and beautiful league such as Serie A,” he told the Italian club’s official website.
“Everyone knows the history of goalkeepers in Italy, and I’m sure I can learn in Torino.”
Things are looking up for the stopper and it is likely he will start in goal for England against Slovakia after Southampton’s Fraser Forster pulled out of Sam Allardyce’s first squad with an injury.
Meanwhile, over at City, he has been replaced with Claudio Bravo, one of Guardiola’s former Barcelona players, who is preferred because he has better distribution.
Even before Bravo was brought in, Willy Caballero was preferred to Hart, so the City boss evidently wanted to make it clear that there was no place for him in the north-west.
All the same, Hart’s departure marks a huge turning point for City; having been at the club ten years, he was one of the few players who had been there before the influx of money.
Torino will present a very different challenge, but given his loss of form, it may be exactly what Hart needs to resurrect his career.
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