According to Italian sports journalist Fabrizio Romano, Tottenham have ‘reached (an) agreement’ with Joe Hart to sign the 33-year-old on a free transfer. Hart was released by Burnley earlier this summer and will replace Michel Vorm who left in July.
Is Hart a good signing?
He’s struggled for consistency in recent years, but Hart isn’t a bad acquisition for what his role will be at Tottenham. We needed a third-choice goalkeeper to replace Vorm and didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so it makes a lot of sense to sign the England international on a free transfer.
Hart made 53 appearances for Shrewsbury Town (2001-2006), 348 appearances for Manchester City (2006-2018), six appearances on loan at Tranmere Rovers (2007), five appearances on loan at Blackpool (2007), 41 appearances on loan at Birmingham City (2009-2010), 37 appearances on loan at Torino (2016-2017), 23 appearances on loan at West Ham United (2017-2018) and 24 appearances for Burnley (2018-2020), so he’ll bring a wealth of experience.
Whether we’ll get the player that won two Premier League titles, two League Cups and one FA Cup remains to be seen, however. Hart’s form has fallen by the wayside since he was surplus to requirements at City – he conceded 67 goals in 37 games at Torino, 42 goals in 23 games at West Ham and 48 goals in 24 games with Burnley. He’s nearly made as many errors leading to an opposition shot on goal (7) as he has kept clean sheets (8) in his last 38 Premier League games, so it’s a gamble.
Will we see much of Hart next season?
It may depend on pre-season. Hugo Lloris will be first-choice between the sticks and Paulo Gazzaniga will remain second-choice, but Hart could oust the latter if he impresses before the 2020/21 campaign begins.
Jose Mourinho hasn’t signed Hart to be left out of the matchday squad, nor has the 33-year-old joined Tottenham not to play, so he’ll no doubt be working hard to stand out.
Summary
Signing Hart to be a third-choice goalkeeper highlights how much strength in depth Tottenham have, but there’s no hiding the fact that he’s been below-par for a long time. This could be last-chance saloon for Hart, so can he turn things around?