Hart out to prove a point to Bilic and Southgate at West Ham, not Guardiola

Joe Hart is intent on proving a point to West Ham manager Slaven Bilic and England boss Gareth Southgate, but not Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Following Guardiola’s arrival at the Etihad Stadium, Hart was quickly discarded by the Spaniard, who was seeking a goalkeeper with superior footwork skills, and sent on a season-long loan to Torino.

City shelled out €40million to sign Ederson from Benfica after a disappointing debut season for Claudio Bravo, with Hart moved on in another temporary switch.

The England international is not concerned about winning over Guardiola, though, and simply hopes to continue proving himself worthy of a spot to Bilic and Southgate.

“I’m trying to make a point to Slaven,” said Hart, whose first competitive outing with his new club comes against Manchester United on Sunday. “I’m trying to make my point to Gareth Southgate. They’re my coaches. They’re the people whose opinions I care about.

“Gareth thinks West Ham is the right place for me to be. I want to play at the highest standard available to me. This definitely fits the criteria.

“I’ve always said the standard of keepers in England is very high. It’s a privileged position to play for the country. Every single time I’ve put on that number one jersey I have been very proud and very excited for what comes with it.

“You’ve got Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford now at Everton. Big Fras [Fraser Forster] has signed a new deal at Southampton. [Tom] Heaton has been nothing short of a miracle for Burnley with his performances.

“It is tough to get into a Premier League team, I found that out myself this summer.”

COME ON YOU IRONS! pic.twitter.com/ITyejDUVfO

— West Ham United (@WestHamUtd) August 13, 2017

Hart had been hoping to leave City permanently in the off-season, but confessed such offers were at a minimum.

However, the 30-year-old is thankful to West Ham co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan for giving him the chance to play in the Premier League.

“Ideally I wanted to be signing a permanent deal somewhere so I could set my life up and have a direction. But that wasn’t meant to be and West Ham have been absolutely fantastic towards me,” said Hart.

“I cannot be any more grateful for the opportunity they have given me. Slaven has come and Mr Gold and Mr Sullivan have come in and made their intentions clear that they want me to be here.

“There wasn’t an awful lot of movement goalkeeper-wise this summer so I’m very grateful to get this opportunity.

“My feelings for Manchester City will never change, I’m eternally grateful to them as a football club. 

“I will eternally have a link with them, but as far as the business side of it goes and new managers and new opinions, that’s football, I just have to take it on the chin. There’s no point me taking it too personally because it’s not all about me.”