England goalkeeper Joe Hart is “really, really grateful to Torino and it definitely excited me to play in Serie A. I have a huge commitment to the club.”
The shot-stopper surprised many when he left Manchester City on loan to join the Granata.
After England’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Malta, Hart was asked if being in the land of Dino Zoff, Gianluigi Buffon and Walter Zenga was a factor.
“It was but I’m not going to lie,” he told the Daily Mail.
England goalkeeper Joe Hart is “really, really grateful to Torino and it definitely excited me to play in Serie A. I have a huge commitment to the club.”
The shot-stopper surprised many when he left Manchester City on loan to join the Granata.
After England’s 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Malta, Hart was asked if being in the land of Dino Zoff, Gianluigi Buffon and Walter Zenga was a factor.
“It was but I’m not going to lie,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I wasn’t sat there with 25 options. I wasn’t. Torino was a really good option for me and it definitely excited me to go to play in Serie A and to play for Torino. That fit, in the situation I was in, was a good decision.
“But it’s not about making brave decisions. It was a decision I had to make and was comfortable with. I felt I was capable of doing it and, where my options were, it was the best one for me in my opinion.
“I had a situation at (Manchester) City where my playing time was going to be limited, full stop. So I had to look elsewhere. It was pretty quick. I wasn’t given much time so when that opportunity came, I was really, really grateful.
“I spoke to the Torino manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, who made it clear that they did actually want me to play in the team, so that was enough.”
Although Hart committed a howler on his Serie A debut, a 2-1 defeat to Atalanta, he has since conceded only two goals in the next four games.
Pep Guardiola dropped Hart because he was not good enough with his feet, but arguably that is not the role of a goalkeeper.
“I have to think selfishly about the whole thing and try to be what I’m capable of being. People have their opinions and will make statements on how things are and what they are. They might be right; they might be bang on.
“Some people you struggle to argue with. They’ve got a lot of strong backing to what they say and what they do. But I can only really look after me. I’m always looking, I’m always watching. I see new ideas, I like new ideas and I’ve got to work to my capabilities. Whatever I’m capable of, I need to be the best I can.
“Football is a game of opinions and some people have a great opinion of me and some people probably think I’m absolutely useless.
“Unfortunately for me, one of the guys’ opinions in charge of my club at the time wasn’t as strong as it needed to be.
“So I needed to find someone who had an opinion of me who thought I could help their team. I need to improve and improve all the time because I’m still learning the game and the game is changing all the time. I love trying to improve. I love that challenge, whether I am playing Sunday league or playing abroad or Serie A or B.
“I’ve got quite a few people who I hold close to my heart and I trust and a lot of footballing opinions that I care about. But it’s hard to please everyone and I learned quite early that that’s never going to happen.
“So I’ve got my people who I trust and whether I’m right or wrong is to be debated. But in terms of changing everyone’s opinions and making everyone think I’m great, you’re not going to win.
“How this season plays out, or what comes of it, will be however it ends up. I’m at Torino with huge commitment to the club, huge commitment to the season, the culture, the football and I’m going to give it my all. Whatever happens, happens.”