It’s done. The player said yes to the club and also Manchester City have given the green light.
Advertisement
Sterling became the most expensive English player when he joined City from Liverpool for 44mn pounds ($57.57mn) a year ago, but struggled to justify his hefty price tag in a disappointing first season in Manchester.
British media reported Hart will undergo a medical examination at Torino on Tuesday.
Hart said that Attilio Lombardo, who was a coach at City under Roberto Mancini and now works for Torino, had played a part in securing his services.
The England worldwide goalkeeper found himself second choice behind Willy Caballero for City’s opening games of 2016-17, with Claudio Bravo’s arrival from Barcelona seemingly demoting Hart to third choice. The interest from Torino came at the right time, and in the right way.
Hart, now training with the England squad ahead of their World Cup Qualifier against Slovakia flew to Turin to finalise the deal.
A deal is now likely to be completed before the August 31 transfer deadline, with Hart then rejoining the England squad for Sunday’s 2018 World Cup qualifying match in Slovakia. “I am very happy to be able to compete in a attractive and hard league like Serie A“.
The England global experienced an emotional farewell when he was made captain for the Champions League play-off second leg against Steaua Bucharest, but looks set to leave City after 10 years at the club.
Torino who finished 12th in Serie A last season, have started the new campaign by taking three points from their first two games.
Premier League rivals Sunderland was also interested in signing Hart, but the goalkeeper preferred not to join a club known for battling with relegation.
Advertisement
Balotelli, Liverpool’s wayward Italian striker, was on the verge of joining French club Nice on a season-long loan, having spent last season on loan at former club AC Milan. “And so I had to do something”, Hart said in an Italian statement on the Torino website. Let us know in the comments section below.
