Guardiola casts doubt on Hart's future at Manchester City
The Manchester City coach -- who is reported to be keen on Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen -- suggested Joe Hart's position as goalkeeper was up for debate. Manchester United v. Manchester City live online
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola cast doubt on goalkeeper Joe Hart's future at the club on Friday after indicating that his place in the squad was up for discussion.
Hart, 29, has been City's first-choice goalkeeper for the past six seasons, contributing to two Premier League title wins, two League Cup successes and their 2011 FA Cup triumph. But media reports suggest Guardiola wants to replace him with Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen and the new City manager failed to give Hart a ringing endorsement when asked about the matter.
Pep: "We're are going to decide, but now he's our player"
"I'm so happy about [Joe's] qualities, his behaviour, what he means to this club," Guardiola said, on the eve of his side's opening league game at home to Sunderland on Saturday. "After, we are going to decide inside [the club]....[but] now he's our player."
Guardiola took City's pre-season spending to around 150 million pounds ($194.9 million, 174.1 million euros) earlier this week by signing young English centre-back John Stones from Everton for 47.5 million pounds.
Stones fit for opener, Sané misses out
Guardiola said Stones was fit to play against Sunderland, having made several appearances for Everton in pre-season. But Germany winger Leroy Sane, a 37 million pounds capture from Schalke, will not feature, having not trained this week due to a hamstring complaint.