Claudio Bravo or Joe Hart: Guardiola's goalkeeper gamble

Pep Guardiola's decision to send Joe Hart to Torino on loan and sign Claudio Bravo is hard to explain. The Chilean is a good goalkeeper, but he has performed poorly since his arrival at the Etihad Stadium. Bravo made two bad errors on his debut against Manchester United, which did not cost him much. His unconvincing form continued, however, and in City's latest Champions League match he handed Barcelona's forwards a remarkable gift before being sent off in the 53rd minute.

By contrast, Joe Hart has saved The Citizens countless times. The England goalkeeper was a key reason for Manchester City's run in the 2015/16 Champions League, when they reached the semi-finals. Hart is in good shape and has lost only once since arriving in Turin. It is always sad when such a loyal player finds himself in this situation, but Hart has handled it smartly, accepting his manager's decision calmly and saying nothing he might regret later.

It is unusual for a manager to say he has no problem with a player, send him into exile and then sign someone who is not better than him. Decisions like that can cost a manager his job. In Guardiola's case that is unlikely, but the move looks like a serious misjudgement.

Guardiola may soon realise he has made a mistake, though whether he will admit it is another matter. If Willy Caballero appears in the starting eleven, it will be a tacit admission. The case for recalling Hart as soon as possible is strong, because with Claudio Bravo short of confidence, The Citizens look unlikely to win anything in the 2016/17 season.

Background to the switch

Manchester City completed the signing of Claudio Bravo from Barcelona on 25 August 2016, on a four-year contract for a reported fee of around £17 million. His Premier League debut came on 10 September 2016 in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford, which City won 2-1. Bravo was at fault for United's goal and was widely criticised, although Guardiola publicly praised his performance. Bravo arrived with a strong record for Chile, having been named best goalkeeper at the Copa América in both 2015 and 2016, when Chile won the tournament.

The Champions League defeat in Barcelona came at the Camp Nou on 19 October 2016. Bravo was sent off for handling the ball outside his area, and City lost the group match 4-0. Joe Hart, meanwhile, had made his Torino debut on 11 September 2016 in a 2-1 defeat away to Atalanta. Hart had won the Premier League Golden Glove four times with City, in 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2014/15, a joint record for the award.

How the season ended

The doubts about Bravo did not go away. After a series of high-profile errors, he lost his place in February 2017 to Willy Caballero, the very scenario that had looked like a tacit admission of a mistake. City's season ended without a trophy. They were knocked out of the Champions League in the round of 16 by Monaco on away goals after a 6-6 aggregate draw, lost the FA Cup semi-final to Arsenal after extra time and finished third in the Premier League with 78 points. It was the first season of Guardiola's managerial career that ended without silverware.

In Italy, Hart made 36 Serie A appearances for Torino and kept five clean sheets as the club finished ninth. He did not return to the City goal. In June 2017 Benfica announced that their goalkeeper Ederson would join Manchester City for 40 million euros. Hart spent the 2017/18 season on loan at West Ham United and joined Burnley in August 2018. Bravo stayed at City as a back-up, won the Golden Glove at the 2017 Confederations Cup with Chile, and left the club in August 2020 when his contract expired.