Manchester City Transfer News: Latest Rumours on Joe Hart and Bruno Peres

Torino are reportedly keen to keep Manchester City’s on-loan goalkeeper Joe Hart at the club until 2018.

That’s according to Tuttosport (h/t Neil McLeman of the Daily Mirror), who have stated that the Serie A side have already spoken with Hart’s agent, Jonathan Barnett, over the prospect of extending his loan deal by another season.

Torino chairman Urbano Cairo is also said to have staged discussions with sporting director Gianluca Petrachi and manager Sinisa Mihajlovic about another season away from the Etihad Stadium for the England international.

Since making the switch to Torino, Hart has become a hugely popular figure with the club’s supporters. Here’s a look at some of his best moments in their colours so far:

Hart’s situation is an intriguing one. At City he was the main man between the sticks for many years and a key cog in the team’s two Premier League title wins. However, the appointment of manager Pep Guardiola prompted a change in style and Claudio Bravo, a ‘keeper more adept with his distribution, was drafted in.

While the new City stopper has made a difference in the team’s ability to build from the back, he’s yet to impress in other areas, as noted by ESPN FC’s James Dall:

Hart, admittedly, has not been immaculate in Serie A and has dropped a few clangers during his time in the Italian top flight. However, he’s made some vital saves for the Granata, who sit in a respectable seventh in the league, just four points back on second-place Roma.

In the report it’s suggested that Hart’s wages—said to be £3.8 million annually—could be an obstacle in getting this deal done. But for the player, regular football in a competitive team would be ideal as he seeks to maintain his England spot for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Barcelona in Bruno Peres Race

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According to Sport (h/t Dipesh Agarwal of Sport Witness), Barcelona are ready to provide Manchester City with serious competition in pursuit of Roma man Bruno Peres.

The Brazilian is currently on loan with the Giallorossi, although they do have the option to sign him permanently from Torino at the end of the 2016-17 season. City are said to have been in for the full-back in the summer, although it’s stated Barcelona sporting director Robert Fernandez ran the rule over the player in person last weekend.

Peres would reportedly cost €20 million (£17 million) to sign at the end of the campaign. Here’s a look at why the likes of City and Barcelona could be keen to bring him in:

The 26-year-old excelled for Torino last term in both the left- and right-back positions. His energy, dynamism and effectiveness in the final third was a hallmark of their play last term. As we can see here courtesy of OptaPaolo, he’s already become a key man at the Stadio Olimpico too:

The full-back positions are certainly areas of the field Guardiola will look to strengthen in the coming windows. At right-back, in particular, both Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta are past their best and becoming increasingly injury prone too.

Given Peres is on loan at Roma, is a key member of the team and the club has an option to sign him as part of the deal, you’d suspect they’d be favourites to clinch the full-back’s signature on a permanent basis. However, the allure of City and Guardiola, not to mention Barcelona, is very strong.