Joe Hart says Torino are aiming for the Europa League, and discusses his departure from Manchester City.
The England goalkeeper arrived on loan in the summer, after City manager Pep Guardiola decided he was not part of his plans.
“I came in after the other players because of the Euros, and when we first had a conversation he said he [Guardiola] had his reservations about me,” Hart told Sky Sports UK.
Joe Hart says Torino are aiming for the Europa League, and discusses his departure from Manchester City.
The England goalkeeper arrived on loan in the summer, after City manager Pep Guardiola decided he was not part of his plans.
“I came in after the other players because of the Euros, and when we first had a conversation he said he [Guardiola] had his reservations about me,” Hart told Sky Sports UK.
“I shook his hand, I said it was professionally honest, but not what I wanted to hear. I said I wanted to work for him and see what happens but I got the impression that it wasn't really going anywhere.
“I got the feeling I wasn't going to play. I spoke to the chief executive [Ferran Soriano] and said: 'You want me to go don't you?' He didn't stop me with what I was saying.
“I'm up for a fight but you've got to be clever and pick your battle. It was the opinion of a guy who has got a lot of power at the club and I wasn't on the right side of it.
“I wouldn't say there was an awful lot coming in my direction so I thought I needed to go elsewhere and I'm really grateful to Torino for giving me the opportunity
“I would have backed myself but I prefer thinking about how I can help Torino now rather than 'what if' or 'I could have done that’.
“I spoke to Micah Richards as he's played in Serie A and he said, 'You'll love it.' Then I spoke to Patrick Vieira who'd played at Juventus and knew the city and he told me it was a good football city.
“Aleksandar Kolarov knows Sinisa Milhajlovic so I spoke with him – he calls him 'Mister' – they all call him 'Mister' here, not boss.
“I liked the way Mihajlovic spoke and he said if I really wanted to come I was welcome. I love football and I told him that I was desperate to play.
“I'm 29 and in a blink of an eye so much has happened already and I know it'll be over in another blink of an eye.
“The manager isn't here to play around. He wants the Europa League spot for us, and that will be a really good achievement as there's only three Champions League spots in Serie A.
“We're competing with Juventus, Roma, Napoli, Lazio and Milan who are really pushing for the spots.”
Hart has impressed in Italy with his willingness to adapt and learn Italian.
“The first thing I thought was, 'It would be great to learn a language and sit here now having a fluent conversation in Italian,' but I need to be good at my job so I had to learn the simple shouts.
“I just tried to batter those into my head in training. The goalkeeping coach here, Paolo Di Sarno, was great.
“I probably sounded a bit of a fool shouting the words over and again just to learn them. There's been no mix-ups because of communication or anything like that.
“I just tried to learn as best as I could what I'd normally say in a game and it's become quite natural.”