Hart can keep up in Law society
JOE HART’S loan move to Torino is not the first time Manchester City have traded a star player to the Italian club.
But the circumstances of Hart’s switch could not be more different to Denis Law’s British record £100,000 transfer back in 1961.
Struggling in the lower reaches of the old First Division, City badly needed the money back then.
Torino’s offer was simply too good to refuse, even though the decision to sell crowd idol Law infuriated their fans and they compounded it by spending part of it on Scottish defender Bobby Kennedy.
In Hart’s case, money is not the issue – Pep Guardiola simply prefers Claudio Bravo as his No1. City are now arguably the richest club in the world thanks to their Abu Dhabi owner Sheikh Mansour and are actually subsidising a large chunk of Hart’s £135,000-a-week wages. City will hope they do not come to regret the move as they did with Scottish legend Law.
He found life in Italy difficult. Like many players who moved there from England, he could not adapt to the ultra-defensive style of play and found it hard to get along with manager Beniamino Santos. Furthermore the manner in which players were paid was less than generous, so Law made less money in Italy than he had expected.
And after falling out with the Torino management, Law looked set to be forced to move to Juventus but he refused – and flew home to Aberdeen – because he knew Sir Matt Busby wanted to bring him back to the red side of Manchester.
He eventually signed for United in the summer of 1962 for a British-record £115,000 – and within two years was crowned European Footballer of the Year as he lit up the Sixties as part of Old Trafford’s ‘Holy Trinity’ along with George Best and Bobby Charlton.
Law eventually rejoined City in 1973 but, dogged by a persistent knee injury, he was well past his best and retired after playing for Scotland in the 1974 World Cup. Hart, 29, completed his season-long loan move yesterday where he will replace Daniel Padelli, 30, as their No1 keeper. He believes the switch was down to destiny. “Suddenly, my career has made an important turning – it was a sign,” said Hart, left, who will rejoin England today ahead of Sunday’s World Cup qualifier in Slovakia. “Torino’s offer came at the right moment, and in the right manner. I am very excited to test myself in an important and beautiful league such as Serie A. Torino is a great club and I’ll be eternally grateful to them for having me and appreciate the welcome from the fans. Now I hope we can enjoy a good season. The history of Italian goalkeepers is known everywhere and I am sure I could learn in Torino too.”
Hart said Attilio Lombardo, who was a coach at City under Roberto Mancini and now works for Torino, had played a part in securing his services.
“I have already met Attilio, with whom I worked in Manchester, winning a lot,” he said. “I hope to live the same emotions this year. I have read an interview about Toro and the coach wants humility and ambition. I like that. That’s how I want to be.”
Hart is also friendly with Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who came out in his support when Guardiola dropped him.
Buffon said: “He has consistently shown over the last five or six seasons that he is among the best goalkeepers in the world. David De Gea and Manuel Neuer are the two outstanding keepers right now, after that there is not anybody who is on an obvious higher level than Hart.
“He has many years of being a great goalkeeper ahead of him – no matter if they are at Manchester City or anywhere else.”
Delighted Torino president Urbano Cairo said of Hart: “His transfer to Torino makes us proud and demonstrates our willingness to build a more competitive team – but only the results will prove it.
“Not only his talent, but Hart also brings with him humility and enthusiasm. These are the same features that characterise our club.”
Hart is set to make his Serie A debut on September 11 when Torino visit Atalanta.