HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAUDIO ..YOU’RE DROPPED
Bravo celebrations cut short by some bad news from Pep.. YOU’RE NOT MY No.1
PEP GUARDIOLA cut short Claudio Bravo’s birthday celebrations by telling the £17million former Barcelona star he is not his No.1 keeper.
The Manchester City boss brought the Chilean back for Saturday’s 3-1 win against Hull after eight Premier League games on the sidelines – but quickly brought him back down to earth.
Bravo, 34 yesterday, believed he was back in favour after having to temporarily play second fiddle to Willy Caballero.
But Guardiola was giving no guarantees for the man who was controversially brought in to replace England No.1 Joe Hart. City, desperate to finish in the top four, head to Southampton tomorrow, with Guardiola insisting: “Every week, I am going to decide who is in goal. Last week, I decided for Claudio.
“It depends on whether the opposition make a lot of high pressing and what I see in the training sessions.”
It’s a blow to Bravo, who has a fight on his hands to convince City fans that he is the man to step into Hart’s shoes, despite Guardiola capturing him from the Nou Camp last summer.
For Hart, there is no way back, with City ready to sell in the summer after his seasonlong loan at Torino. The Italians would like to extend the loan, but they will be told to pay the £20million which City are demanding for Hart – or lose out on the 29-year-old. Guardiola (right, with Caballero) was not prepared to open up last night over his summer plans. He said: “We will talk about those players whose contracts are up and the loan players. We follow all the players who are playing. Me and the staff, we follow the loan players. We have a lot to follow.” Guardiola is hoping to have skipper Vincent Kompany available for the trip to the south coast. The Belgian was on the bench against Hull after playing his first full 90 minutes’ Premier League action of the season against Chelsea. “After the game against Chelsea, he had a problem in one of his legs. We didn’t want to take a risk, but the good news was being able to play 90 minutes at Stamford Bridge at a high level,” added Guardiola. And he was most surprised that none of his City players were named in the six-man shortlist for the PFA Player of the Year award.
When asked about the omission of stars such as Sergio Aguero and David Silva Guardiola snapped: “Congratulations to the nominees! It is not my business, no.”