Manchester City and Claudio Bravo have agreed to a deal with confirmation to come later this week.
It appears sitting on the bench in the opening match of the season wasn’t the only punishment Joe Hart will receive for his poor performance at the Euros. According to Sport, Manchester City have agreed to a €25 million deal with Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, with negotiations set to be finalized on Thursday.
Willy Caballero didn’t play well in City’s opening match against Sunderland, but rather than give Hart a second chance, this deal all but assures the Englishman will be sold by the club. However, this deal doesn’t mean that Barca will go with Marc-Andre ter Stegen — according to Mail Online, they will only part ways with Bravo if they can find a suitable replacement. Valencia keeper Diego Alves is among the names being floated around.
This signing is an incredible coup for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. Bravo may be 33, but €25 million is a bargain for him. He has won La Liga with Barcelona the past two years and has led Chile to two successive Copa Americas. He has improved immensely since he joined Barcelona, and he will be much more suited to Guardiola’s style than Hart ever was.
Next: Premier League Week 1 Power Rankings
Despite the way he was treated by Pep Guardiola, Joe Hart is still talented enough to be a starting keeper. He deserves to start on another team, but one has to wonder if that team will come in England after he became their national team’s biggest scapegoat in France.
There was a lot of excitement among City fans when Pep Guardiola was announced as their new manager, but their rivals from Old Trafford have done their best to stifle that. They had Jose Mourinho take over for Louis van Gaal, then went on a tremendous spending spree this summer that was headlined by the signings of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba.
But by signing Bravo, Manchester City have addressed their biggest area of concern. The first Manchester derby can’t come soon enough.