Guardiola must retain veteran City trio – Hart

Pep Guardiola has not even arrived at Manchester City yet but Joe Hart already has some advice for the club’s incoming Spanish manager.

Hart believes it would be wrong for Guardiola to execute a complete turnover of the current City squad, which sits in fourth position in the Premier League table.

The City mainstay goalkeeper believes at the very least, Guardiola needs to ensure he retains himself, captain Vincent Kompany and Argentina full-back Pablo Zabaleta.

“I was here first, then Vinny came charging through the door and about two weeks later Zaba came,” he said on Sky Sports.

“I was told they were both central midfielders! I’ve seen Zaba age, that’s how long we’ve been together.

“But it’s good that we’ve been together this long and I think we need to be here. We need to be a part of it.

“I talk to the odd Englishman that walks through the door here, Vinny has taken control of the French speakers and Europeans.

“And Zaba has looked after the Latinos and Spanish. So they’ve got the harder jobs because I’ve just got one or two people to look after.

“I think it’s nice to have us as bedrocks.”

The trio are the only players at the club that have survived the entire reign of the Abu Dhabi United Group – which began in 2008 – and Hart does not want the journey to finish any time soon.

“I want to be here for as long as I can,” he added.

“I want to be remembered as someone who loved this club and loved playing for this club.

“Someone who appreciated everything the club gave him and gave back everything physically possible that I could give.”