Joe Hart has joined West Ham from Manchester City on a season-long loan with the London club also set to sign the Stoke City forward Marko Arnautovic for £24m.
West Ham had two earlier bids rejected for Arnautovic, who signed a four-year deal only last summer, but Stoke reluctantly accepted that there was little to gain from trying to keep a player who was so determined to leave.
From Stoke’s point of view Arnautovic is making a sideways move by joining West Ham and there is also frustration that the 28-year-old has pushed for a transfer so soon after being rewarded with a lucrative contract. The Midlands club will now look to recruit another winger, although they also hope that Ramadan Sobhi, who caught the eye last season with some exciting performances, can seize his chance.
Hart, meanwhile, spent last season on loan at Torino after losing his starting place at City and Pep Guardiola has signed the Benfica goalkeeper Ederson for £34.7m for the upcoming campaign.
The deal will cost West Ham £4.5m in total with the goalkeeper set to earn £2.5m in salary from the London club, who will also pay City a loan fee of £2m. That £2m will go to Hart to make up the shortfall in his weekly wage. This means that West Ham are able to keep their current wage structure.
“It’s important for me to play football and to get the opportunity to come here and play is absolutely awesome,” Hart told West Ham TV. “To be playing in the Premier League for a big club like West Ham, I’m really looking forward to the season.
“The club has got something about it, it’s got a lot history and I’ve always loved playing against West Ham. We’ve moved into London Stadium and we’ve got Slaven [Bilic] in charge who I’ve spoken to and I’ve always enjoyed as a manager.
“He obviously did a good job with Croatia and he’s doing a good job here, so to get the opportunity to come here, it wasn’t really a hard decision.”
The goalkeeper’s contract with City expires in 2019. West Ham are due to play City in a pre-season friendly in Reykjavik on Friday 4 August.
