Joe Hart
D.O.B: 19/04/1987
Height: 6ft5
Position: Goalkeeper
Joined Club: May 2006 from Shrewsbury Town
Fee: £600,000 (rising to £1.5m)
Debut: October 2006 v Sheffield United
Joe Hart joined Manchester City in May 2006 whilst he was on international duty with England's U19 squad and has probably turned out to be the best £600k City have spent on a player. In the five years he's been at the club he's already seen 4 different managers. Hopefully there wont be many (if any) more for some time.
After making his debut shortly after his arrival (due to injuries to other goalkeepers) he was sent out on a month's loan to Tranmere in January and Blackpool in April.
Over the next 2 seasons (2007-08 and 2008-09) he made 49 appearances for City and was initially pushed out of the side by the arrival of Shay Given in January 2009. Later that year, at the start of 2009-10 season, with his chances of first team football curtailed by the presence of Shay Given, Joe went out on a season long loan to Birmingham City.
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Since then he has established himself firmly as City's and England's number 1. His performance on the first day of the season against Spurs earned him performance of the season for City (you can see that here ). Throughout the season Joe continued to make some absolutely outstanding saves, earning himself the Premier League's Golden Glove award for most clean sheets. He also broke the club record for most clean sheets in a season which was previously held by fan favourite Nicky Weaver.
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Questions have continued to be asked about his concentration at times during the season, however despite a couple of high profile mistakes he hasn't actually made any more mistakes than any other goalkeeper in the Premier League. Certain experts and pundits questioned his decision making when coming to collect crosses but he again has proved them wrong making very few actual mistakes.
One thing that does still need work is Joe's distribution of the ball. His punts outfield are quite regularly wayward, some end up being hurried due to him taking too much time on the ball when an opposing player is closing him down. Of course this doesn't happen all the time, but it happens more than City fans want to see. It is the only real flaw left in his game but at the age of 24 he is still very young in goalkeeping terms and we aren't likely to see the absolute best of him for another 5-7 years yet!
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Joe is undoubtedly one of the best goalkeepers in the Premiership (arguably the best) and has the potential to be one of the very best in the world by the time he reaches his peak. City fans will dearly hope they see his peak in City colours as he has become part of the fabric of the club and, well, he's deeeceeent.
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