West Ham United have confirmed the signing of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart on a season-long loan, with the Hammers reportedly paying a loan fee of £4.5 million to secure the services of the England international.
Speaking about the capture, West Ham manager Slaven Bilic expressed his happiness at being able to attract a player of his pedigree to the club, while also explaining the importance of improving the level of competition in the squad:
“He is the England number one, he has great experience but, at 30-years-old, he is still in his prime as a goalkeeper and can be at the top of his game in the next few years… I said a few days ago that we wanted to sign players who are going to improve our starting eleven. But that doesn’t mean that they walk straight into the team. It means that they improve the level of competition for those places.”
The History
Hart started out at his hometown club Shrewsbury Town, making his debut in April 2004 at the age of 17.
He became the club’s first-choice goalkeeper during the 2005/06 season and was named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year before securing a move to Manchester City in the summer of 2006.
Hart took in loan spells at Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool before spending the 2009/10 campaign on a season-long loan at Premier League outfit Birmingham City, making 36 appearances.
He returned to the Etihad in the summer of 2010 ready to take the starting spot in goal and was an ever-present, keeping an impressive 18 clean sheets.
Over the next few years, Hart became a vital member of a hugely successful City side, winning two league titles in 2012 and 2014, along with two League Cups and one FA Cup.
But he immediately fell out of favour under Pep Guardiola last summer and was shipped out on a season-long loan to Italian side Torino, where he managed just five shut-outs in 36 matches, conceding 62 goals.
Hart represented England six times at U19 level before making 21 appearances for the U21s.
He was handed his senior debut in a 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago in June 2008 and has racked up an impressive 71 caps for his country.
The Prospects
Both Adrian and Darren Randolph shared playing time in goal for the Hammers last season, but the addition of Hart is expected to provide stability in the goalkeeping position.
Speaking about the switch to the London Stadium, Hart revealed the opportunity to play regular first-team football was the key factor behind the move:
“It’s important for me to play football and to get the opportunity to come here and play is absolutely awesome.”
With the FIFA World Cup on the horizon next summer, Hart knows he needs to be playing week in week out, with the likes of Stoke City’s Jack Butland, Burnley’s Tom Heaton and Everton’s Jordan Pickford all pushing to be England’s No 1.
He should start the season as the first-choice stopper at West Ham then, with Adrian and Randolph already the subject of speculation regarding possible exits.
Hart’s underlying statistics from the last two seasons have been pretty underwhelming, however.
He had a save rate of just 64% and made six errors which led to goals.
Adrian boasted a save rate of 71.03% over the same period, making just three errors, although Randolph was less impressive (60.32% save rate and five errors).
Hart’s statistics are certainly a concern, although a return to the Premier League could help spark an improvement.
He did also make a save every 31.15 minutes last season – considerably better than in 2015/16 with City (43.80) – and in another team expected to be battling in mid-table, his save potential should increase and further boost his appeal.
Despite enduring a difficult season last term, eventually finishing 11th, Bilic’s side still managed to keep a reasonable 10 clean sheets, with eight of those coming at home.
And in 2015/16, they produced 11 shut-outs, so the West Ham defence could prove to be a decent source of defensive returns again this season.
While Hart was originally added as a Manchester City asset and priced at 7.3 in Sky Sports, he was absent from the original Fantasy Premier League (FPL) listing.
Adrian and Randolph have both been valued at 4.5 this season, so there is surely a strong case for Hart to arrive at the same price.
That would, of course, make the England international ideal for a rotation pairing.
Watford provide a rotation partner for West Ham this season. But the Hammers’ Gameweek 2 fixture against Southampton has been reversed while the London Stadium is used for the 2017 World Athletics Championships, so they only rotate home and away for 36 of the 38 Gameweeks.
Nevertheless, a Hart/Heurelho Gomes pairing would still provide a pretty strong run of fixtures (LIV, bou/sot, BHA, HUD, wba, swa, SWA, brn, BHA, STO) during the opening months of the season.
Swansea City’s Lukasz Fabianski and West Bromwich Albion’s Ben Foster are other 4.5 goalkeepers who could work alongside Hart in a 9.0 pairing, with the pair’s fixtures generally working well in conjunction with the West Ham stopper.
While Hart’s form in Italy was slightly disappointing, he does remain an exceptional goalkeeper, and one that should boost the prospects of the Hammers’ backline.
To get a stopper of his calibre for 4.5 in FPL would represent excellent value and is likely to see him feature in many FPL squads come Gameweek 1.
Former team-mate Pablo Zabaleta has also joined over the summer, so there’s no shortage of experience at the back for West Ham, with Jose Fonte, Winston Reid and Aaron Cresswell all proven Premier League performers.
Hart looks set to move towards the top of our shopping lists providing he comes in at 4.5 then, potentially offering the cheapest route into a Hammers backline that offers a fairly reliable source of defensive returns – particularly at home.
