Article by Alexandru Stanciu – Published Saturday, 23 May 2026, 08:45 / Updated Saturday, 23 May 2026 08:57
After 10 historic seasons at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola (55 years old) confessed his only regret from the period spent on the “citizens” bank. The legendary coach revealed that he regrets the way he removed Joe Hart (39 years old) from the team, who was at that time the main goalkeeper option for the England national team.
The Catalan manager wanted a goalkeeper who was more confident with the ball at his feet, so City signed Claudio Bravo from Barcelona and put Hart on the transfer list. After a decade at City, the England star went on loan to Turin and never played for the Manchester club again.
Meanwhile, Bravo struggled to adapt to the rigors of the Premier League and City brought in Ederson the following year. The Brazilian became Guardiola's undisputed starter for the next eight seasons, being one of the most important players of Guardiola's era on the Citizens' bench.
Pep Guardiola regrets how he sent Joe Hart away from Manchester City: 'I didn't give him the chance'
However, if the City manager could turn back time, he would have given Hart a chance.
“I want to confess something. I have one regret,” the 55-year-old coach told Sky Sports after confirming he will leave City after the final game of the season against Aston Villa on Sunday.
Joe Hart at Celtic / Photo: Imago
“I have regrets, because when you make many, many decisions, you also make mistakes. But there is one regret that I have hidden deep inside me for many years.
I didn't give Joe Hart the chance to be with me, to show me what a good goalkeeper he was. And I should have.
Not because … all respect to Claudio, all respect to Ederson, who came and was important … but at that moment, I thought: «OK, Joe, let's try together and if it doesn't work, then we change, because that's what happened».
But it happened. You know, life is like that sometimes, I have to make decisions and sometimes I'm not fair enough”.
Hart spent the 2016-17 season in Serie A before returning to the Premier League at West Ham for another ill-fated loan spell. During his time with the Hammers, he lost his place in the England squad, missing the 2018 World Cup after being replaced by Jordan Pickford.
Upon his departure from City, Guardiola called Hart a “legend”, recalling the two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and two League Cups won with the team. Hart has also won the Premier League Golden Glove trophy four times.
“It wasn't painful, it was frustrating,” Hart recalled on the “High Performance” podcast. “But he was a great man, Pep Guardiola, who had a vision that I didn't fit into. It was frustrating… what he said was: 'He's a good goalkeeper, but he's not for me', and that was it.”
Later, Joe Hart played for Burnley, Tottenham and Celtic.
