The City manager has opted to save the 33-year-old until the much-anticipated game against Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, after the global break, on September 10.
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Hart, 29, has found himself tumble down the goalkeeping pecking order at the Etihad under Pep Guardiola, and with Claudio Bravo joining the club, he is nearly certain to leave Manchester City this summer.
“He’s fit but he’s not going to play this weekend”, Guardiola said.
29-year-old, who wants to leave to keep his place in the England team, with new national team manager Sam Allardyce admitting last week that Hart’s demotion at club level was a big concern for him.
“He has experience, can anticipate situations not in the box, in front of the box, is good in the build-up plays, quick under the posts – he is a good player for us”.
With less than a week remaining of the summer transfer window, Hart could be facing the possibility of remaining at City as third choice behind Bravo and Caballero.
Hart has been linked with a move to Liverpool and Sunderland, while Italian clubs AC Milan and Torino are also thought to be interested.
Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola says Joe Hart will be treated like any other player in his squad as long as he is still at the club.
“He deserves what he deserves, I will try to be fair with him”. I think there is still a lot of space for him to improve and become a very good player.
“Outside of the charade and all the rubbish that’s being talked, we’re dealing with it like men inside and we’ll come up with a solution”.
Manchester City and Borussia Moenchengladbach built on commanding first-leg advantages to cruise through the Champions League playoffs on Wednesday, while Russian side Rostov thrashed Ajax 4-1 to reach the group stage for the first time.
He said: “If all four stay here the best solution is for everybody to be involved in our idea”.
“We still have one training session, but the situation is that after this game we have a couple of weeks and the temptation is not to play them because is it worth the risk?”.
The former Barcelona mentor has been very busy in the market and brought in nine new players, most notably John Stones, Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus. “Until now, he is here and a player for us”.
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“That was a really special night for me”, Joe Hart reflected afterwards.
