Pep Guardiola has revealed why he has moved to sign Barcelona keeper Claudio Bravo and ditched former Manchester City No.1 Joe Hart.
Bravo arrived in Manchester from Barcelona last night to undergo a medical ahead of his £17.4million switch from to City on a three-year deal.
Hart has been demoted to the bench for City’s first three games of the season and has now been relegated to third-choice behind Bravo and Willy Caballero.
Guardiola wants a ball-playing goalkeeper who is accomplished with his feet, and has decided Hart does not have sufficient quality to fulfil that remit.
But Guardiola believes Bravo, 33, has the requisite skill set to perform the ‘sweeper-keeper’ role and could make his debut in Sunday’s Premier League game at home to West Ham.
Although Hart is set for a recall for tonight’s Champions League qualifier second-leg, a meaningless game with City leading 5-0 from the first-leg, the England No.1 knows he has no future under Guardiola.
Explaining the importance of a ball-playing keeper, a role for which he thinks Hart is not suited, Guardiola said: “The reason why it’s important is that every time we made a good build up, we create a chance or two chances.
“The transitions are quick and we move the ball like this [clicks fingers].
“When you play long balls, okay, you can win the balls, and maybe some times I have that experience.
“But as fast as it is possible for the ball to go, as fast as possible it can come back. That’s why I tried to insist to the players how important it is.
“But it’s a process, so we need time to get better about our goal-kicks, about our build-up, and to create some movement to give some confidence to our attacking players.
“It’s always this idea. It’s not for, you know, a romantic issue. It’s because when you create a good build-up, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Fabian Delph, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling and Jesus Navas – our forward players receive the ball in better conditions and that is the reason why, nothing else.”
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