Joe Hart will reportedly be one of the experienced players that will be excluded from the 23-man England squad which will travel to Russia to play in the World Cup this summer.
Hart’s career has been in the doldrums since he was deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City following the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager in 2016. He had a less than successful loan spell with Italian club Torino during the 2016/17 season before spending this season with West Ham with whom his performances were also less than impressive.
Despite Hart not being in good form this season, many would have still expected him to be included on Gareth Southgate’s squad as he is one of the most experienced keepers in England and has 75 national team caps to his name.
However, it now appears that the England manager has decided against taking the 31-year-old to Russia. Burnley shot-stopper Nike Pope who was one of the revelations in the Premier League this season is expected to be England’s third-choice keeper at the World Cup while the first-choice position looks likely to be a competition between Jack Butland of Stoke City and Jordan Pickford of Everton.
Southgate will be naming his 23-man squad on Wednesday and England will be hoping to win the World Cup for the first time since 1966 this year.
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