City supporter, part-time Everton watcher.
The Hart link is a leftfield one for a couple of reasons. Primarily the fee. There's no doubt that he's been the most consistant goalkeeper in the country over the last few years. He's had two rocky spells during that time where he lost confidence and made errors or was dropped, but he's generally imperious, and has excelled in the Champions League particularly whilst most of his teammates have been caught lacking. I guess in simplistic terms you could say the only keepers in the league who are better than him - De Gea and Courtois have been valued around the same, but they have age on their side.
For City, it would represent a rare instance of us getting value for a player. £400k followed by a decade of brilliant service is usually the sort of business only done by elite continental clubs, or domestic clubs ran properly like Spurs. It would have to be considered one of the biggest bargains of all time. We know that Guardiola likes a goalie who's comfortable with the ball at is feet and who will come off his line with success. Those are two of Hart's weaknesses, along with shots to his low near post. He doesn't have many. We're being strongly linked with ter Stegen from Barcelona, and Ederson of Benfica.
There are several reasons why i doubt this deal will happen. Firstly, i'm always dubious when spectacular deals are mooted around this time. May and June always feels like silly season, and with good reason. United are always linked with the likes of Neymar around this time of the year, you hear mention of the Puma 'warchest' at Arsenal - season tickets need to be sold, and supporters rightly get giddy at the possibility of big names arriving. Players and their agents have their own agenda aswell. Hart's part of the furniture at City, yet he's still said to be on around £90k a week, half what Raheem Sterling gets.
It will be interesting to see how the takeover at Everton, and the huge increases in revenue at other clubs like Leicester and West Ham effects the dynamic of the transfer market. When City were taken over they accepted they would have to pay a premium on homegrown talent and still do. Hart is probably a £20m player, but signing him, even at a much greater cost could be Everton's Robinho moment. It could announce Everton's arrival at the top table and open the door for other players to arrive. It could also signal a change to City's transfer policy.
All in all, it could represent a good deal for both clubs in different ways. I don't know if Hart would willingly sacrifice Champions League football but he could be swayed by the inevitablity of it if, and it's a big if, Moshiri has the serious funds to throw at it. City having to already carry out major surgery on an already ageing and fragile defence could be a spanner in the works. Kompany's beyond repair, Mangala's been a horrendous buy, Demichelis is being put out to pasture, and injuries have caught up with Zabaleta. Replacing one of only two reliable fixtures of a back five in one summer, the other being Sagna, may prove too big an ask.
