Fresh Football Fresh quotes, opinion and reaction to the beautiful game.
Chelsea could target Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart with fears that Thibaut Courtois could leave for Spanish giants Real Madrid, according to AS.
Real Madrid were a fax machine away from signing David De Gea last summer and have now lost interest in the United shot-stopper whilst reigniting interest in former Atletico Madrid star, Thibaut Courtois.
With the Blues fearing the worst, they are said to be looking to sign 29-year-old Joe Hart after impressing in his loan move in Italy with Torino by slowly getting back to his best after being shown the door by City manager Pep Guardiola in the summer.
The likelihood of Courtois returning to Spain will be dealt with severity by the Chelsea board, with the goalkeeper himself never hiding his ambition of returning to the City where he won the La Liga title.
Joe Hart is a ready made England international and has all the experience you need for a goalkeeper after winning numerous titles with Manchester City, but any deal between Chelsea and Manchester City will be very tough considering ‘bis clubs’ do not like doing business with each other.
Thibaut Courtois is a crucial player for the Blues and helped them win the League title after returning from his loan move in 2014, he has gone on to become one of the top five goalkeepers in the world and at the age of just 24-years-old will only get better with goalkeepers being known to peak in latter years of their careers.
We take a look at how Joe Hart measures up against current Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and if he would be a good replacement if the Belgian star was to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.
A bonus for any goalkeeper is to finish the game with a clean sheet and Thibaut Courtois comes out on top here managing 0.61 clean sheets per 90 minutes thus far this season with Torino man Hart behind with 0.25. You could argue that this stat may be unfair with Courtois having one of the best defences in Europe in front of him as they sit top of the Premier League table.
The most crucial trait any successful goalkeeper must inherit is the number of saves he makes, this can be simple saves to game winning / immense saves, and Joe Hart certainly blossoms in this area making 2.69 saves per 90 minutes with Courtois trailing with 1.72. That said, Courtois impresses immensely with 3.10 saves per goal with Hart somewhat behind on 1.87.
Pep Guardiola shipped out Joe Hart to Italy for one main thing; his lack of distribution accuracy. The City manager is all for this new trait in goalkeepers where they must basically act as a fifth centre-back and have the ability to play out from the back, much like his former goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. But again, Hart (just) top’s Courtois in his distribution accuracy with 69% with the latter narrowly behind on 68%.
The goalkeeper’s job is to ensure he does not concede a goal within the 90 minutes, although new era of managers may want them to be more technical in build-up play, the most important asset for the man between the sticks is to ensure he does not concede. Again, the Chelsea man shows his form by conceding just 0.61 goals per 90 minutes thus far with Hart conceding more than double of the Chelsea man with 1.44.
Both goalkeepers are very good shot-stoppers and have both played a major part in their sides winning major titles, at just 24-years-old Chelsea’s Belgian star will only get better and for me, they have to do everything in their power to keep him at the Bridge. Although Hart is still respected as a very good goalkeeper. In my opinion, he is levels below the Chelsea man and I would be very surprised if Antonio Conte made a move for him with many talented young goalkeepers breaking through around Europe.
