Liverpool are edging closer to signing Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart after ‘advancing some sort of option’ to sign the 29-year-old, according to reports in Italy.
Hart, who is currently on a season-long loan at Torino, is widely expected to be sold by Pep Guardiola at the end of the season, with Liverpool reportedly leading the race for his signature.
Earlier in the season Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp claimed that Loris Karius would be his long-term number one goalkeeper at Anfield, but he ended up being dropped for Simon Mignolet after a string of poor performances against West Ham and Bournemouth.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and former Leeds full-back Danny Mills both suggested that Klopp should look to Joe Hart in the summer in order to address the issues between the sticks.
And while a January move is off-limits as it would see Hart play for three clubs within one season, a move in the summer definitely has potential to materialise.
Turin-based newspaper Tuttosport have suggested that a fee of €15m will be enough to prize the England goalkeeper away from the Etihad Stadium, with Liverpool making enquiries.
Hart is a favourite of both supporters and players in Torino, who are eighth in Serie A after 20 games this season.
Hart has managed to keep five clean sheets till now for Sinisa Mihajlovic’s Torino, who are currently battling for European qualification. The former Shrewsbury starlet’s replacement at the Etihad, Bravo, has only kept four clean sheets in the same amount of appearances and was beaten all ends up during his side’s 4-0 defeat by Everton.
The English keeper himself believes he has played his last game for Manchester City and expects to be sold once his loan spell with Torino concludes at the end of this season.
Sources familiar with the England goalkeeper’s loan agreement with the Italian club have confirmed that there is no recall clause in his contract, which rules out the prospect of a return to City this month in the wake of a series of unconvincing performances by Claudio Bravo, the Chile international recruited from Barcelona by manager Pep Guardiola in August to replace Hart.
Bravo currently sits at the bottom of the Premier League table for goalkeepers’ shots-to-saves ratio, with the 33-year-old managing figures just above 36 percent.