Burnley are in talks to sign Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, sources have told ESPN FC.
The Clarets are in the market for a new goalkeeper after losing No. 1 Nick Pope for three months with a shoulder injury.
Backup Tom Heaton is also struggling with a calf injury, leaving Burnley to give a first start in two years to third-choice Anders Lindegaard in Thursday night’s extra-time Europa League win over Aberdeen.
Hart appears to not have a future at City having spent the the past two seasons away from the club, on loan to Torino and then West Ham United.
The England international is behind Ederson and Claudio Bravo in the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium and Pep Guardiola won’t stand in his way to move on.
Hart has said he is keen to be playing regularly next season after losing his place in the England squad for the World Cup.
“I need to go somewhere permanent, I think that’s obvious,” Hart told reporters last month. “I did what I did in the previous two seasons because I needed to play to be involved in the World Cup. And look where that got me.
“I’m experienced, I’ve played at the highest level for a long time and done a lot of things in the game. I need to be an important player at that club and I think that can only happen with a permanent move.”
Hart made his first international appearance in September 2005 in an England under-19 friendly match against Belgium at Darlington; replacing starting goalkeeper Ben Alnwick at half-time, he was unable to save the penalty that made the score 3–2, but with three minutes left made a “terrific one on one save” from an unmarked attacker.
He played in five more matches for the under-19s, his last a 1–0 defeat away to Serbia and Montenegro on 22 May 2006.
After making his under-21 debut as a substitute for Scott Carson in a 2–2 draw with Spain, Hart was selected by Stuart Pearce in the preliminary England Under-21 30-man squad for the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, and made the final 23.
In the team’s final friendly before the finals, Hart was selected for his first under-21 start, and played the full 90 minutes in a 5–0 win over Slovakia at Carrow Road. However, Hart took no part in the finals, with Carson playing in all four of England’s fixtures.
Hart played in all the qualifying matches for the 2009 European Championships, In the finals, he started the first two group-stage matches and was rested for the last match as England had already sealed their passage to the knock-out stage.[101] In the semi-final against Sweden, he conceded three goals in the second half as the match ended 3–3 after extra time, but made up for it by saving a penalty and scoring another as England won 5–4 in the shoot-out.[102] However, he was yellow-carded for leaving his line to talk to Mikael Lustig as he prepared to take his penalty.[102] England’s appeal was rejected, so Hart was suspended for the final; Scott Loach kept goal as England lost 4–0 to Germany