England goalkeeper Hart completed his move to Italian side Torino, French midfielder Nasri joined Europa League champions Sevilla and Bony pitched up at City’s Premier League rivals Stoke City.
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City manager Pep Guardiola made it clear following his arrival that Hart would not be part of his plans, with Willy Caballero selected in goal for the first three Premier League games and Claudio Bravo signed from Barcelona.
The England goalkeeper will be a starter at Torino and will fight with his new team-mates to occupy a position that secures a place to compete in the European championships.
“And so I had to do something about it. Torino’s offer was the right one at the right time”.
Joe Hart reflected on a hard few weeks in the “crazy game” of football after completing a loan move to Torino from Manchester City.
Hart will now link up with the England squad, who are preparing for their opening 2018 World Cup qualifier away to Slovakia on Sunday. At City, he has managed 2 Premier League titles as well as collecting both Domestic Cups and has always been a fan favourite at the Etihad.
City have now confirmed the deal, with Hart unable to leave the club until the end of this season and no escape route in the January transfer window. I am very happy to be able to test myself in a lovely and hard league such as Serie A.
He said: “His transfer to Torino makes us proud and demonstrates our willingness to build a more competitive team – but only the results will prove it”.
“In the staff I already know [Attilio] Lombardo, who I worked with in Manchester and won, so we hope to relive many attractive emotions together. I’ve read a few interviews about Toro and the coach wants his players to be humble and ambitious, and I like this a lot because that is how I want to be”.
City said: “A key figure in a golden age in the Club’s history, Joe has collected as many individual prizes as he has team honours in his decade at the Etihad Stadium. And so I had to do something”, Hart said in an Italian statement on the Torino website.
Torino’s next match sees them travel to Bergamo to face Atalanta, a game that could be his debut for the club.
Hart and Nasri are former City stalwarts, while Ivory Coast striker Bony arrived from Swansea City past year at a cost of £25 million.
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Sterling became the most expensive English player when he joined City from Liverpool for 44mn pounds ($57.57mn) past year, but struggled to justify his hefty price tag in a disappointing first season in Manchester. “I really like this too, that’s how I want to be”.
