Joe Hart knew Pep Guardiola’s mind would not be swayed so England’s No. 1 had no hesitation in starting afresh in Italy.
Life at Manchester City has been transformed over recent months, with the club’s new Spanish coach wasting little time shaping the squad and getting players attuned to his philosophy.
The changes have resulted in some high-profile casualties at City, with Yaya Toure marginalised and several other high-profile names shifted out.
Hart was the biggest outgoing as Guardiola’s preference for a goalkeeper more comfortable in possession led the 29-year-old to lose his starting berth, resulting in a surprising loan move to Italy with Torino.
“Football is a game of opinions and some people have a great opinion of me and some people probably think I’m absolutely useless,” said Hart, who kept a clean sheet in England’s 2-0 win over Malta on Saturday.
“Unfortunately for me, one of the guys’ opinions in charge of my club at the time wasn’t as strong as it needed to be. So I needed to find someone who had an opinion of me who thought I could help their team.
“I need to improve and improve all the time because I’m still learning the game and the game is changing all the time.
“I love trying to improve — I love that challenge. I want to keep developing until I physically can’t.”
Claudio Bravo was brought in as Guardiola looked for a shot-stopper more suited to his philosophy, but Hart is unsure whether there are two distinct style of goalkeeping.
“I have to think selfishly about the whole thing and try to be what I’m capable of being,” Hart said. “People have their opinions and will make statements on how things are and what they are.
“They might be right, they might be bang on. Some people you struggle to argue with — they’ve got a lot of strong backing to what they say and what they do.
“But I can only really look after me. I’m always looking, I’m always watching — I see new ideas, I like new ideas and I’ve got to work to my capabilities. Whatever I’m capable of, I need to be the best I can.”
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