West Ham United captain Mark Noble says England goalkeeper Joe Hart has been hard done by and deserves more respect.
Hart is set to join the Hammers sometime this week on a season long-loan after being deemed surplus to requirements at Manchester City. A two-time Premier League winner with the Sky Blues, Hart was frozen out of the side by manager Pep Guardiola and spent last season on-loan at Serie A side Torino.
While it was at first expected he would return to fight for his place at the Etihad Stadium alongside the much criticised Claudio Bravo, City’s signing of Benfica keeper Ederson this summer has now all but signalled the end of the Englishman’s career at the club.
Noble, who knows the shot-stopper from there time together with the England U-21s, defended Hart ahead of his potential move to the London Stadium. Speaking with Sky Sports (via Daily Mail), he said: “He is obviously a fantastic goalie but at the minute he is not our player. We have got two really good goalies here so it would be more competition for them.
“In my opinion, he has been a little bit hard done by in recent years. He has been fantastic for England and for his club for the last 10 years, and he probably deserves a little bit more respect.”
Hart underwent a medical with West Ham today and is expected to be including in Slaven Bilic’s squad to face Fulham in a friendly on Thursday.
