Barcelona have confirmed they are on the brink of selling Claudio Bravo to Manchester City, in a deal which will likely spell the end of Joe Hart’s spell at the Etihad Stadium.
Hart has been at City since the summer of 2006, when he joined from Shrewsbury Town in a transfer which would go on to be worth £1.5million. Having dislodged Shay Given from the post he became undisputed number one choice at the start of the 2010-11 campaign, and has gone on to make almost 350 appearances in all competitions for the club.
However, it is clear that new head coach Pep Guardiola does not have a place in his plans for the 29-year-old. The Spaniard has used Willy Caballero for all three games of the fledging current season, and he went as far as to suggest the England international could leave if he so desired.
This now looks inevitable after it was confirmed by Barcelona on Saturday that they had agreed to sell Bravo, who has over 100 international caps for Chile, to City.
The Catalan club’s technical secretary, Robert Fernandez, said on the La Liga side’s official Twitter account: “We have the beginning of an agreement with Manchester City for Claudio Bravo. We are awaiting events this week. When Claudio leaves, we hope to have a new keeper”
It is understood that Holland international Jasper Cillesen, currently of Ajax, is the man in the frame to replace Bravo and challenge Marc-Andre ter Stegen for the number one spot at the Camp Nou.
