Ronald Koeman has left the door open on a bid for Joe Hart after the England goalkeeper’s dramatic fall from grace at Manchester City.
Hart has failed to feature in City’s first two games of the season and is widely expected to leave this summer. While the Everton manager refused to comment directly on rumours linking him to the 29-year-old, he said they “need three goalkeepers”.
“What I don’t like is talk about rumours‚” Koeman said, “and that applies for the next two weeks. So many players are linked to Everton, and today it’s Joe Hart, but I prefer not to talk about players under contract.
“What I can say, though, is that you are always looking for players that will make a stronger squad than we have. One of our jobs is to improve the team and if we don’t have that type of player we will sign that player.”
Koeman’s fellow Dutchman Martin Stekelenburg was in goal for the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, while Joel Robles has Premier League experience. But their third-choice keeper is the untested 19-year-old Mateusz Hewelt.
“We need three goalkeepers‚“ Koeman said. “We have Joel, we have Martin, we have a young goalkeeper. We don’t like to stop the development of our young players. This is the decision we need to make.”
Koeman also said that Romelu Lukaku may make his first appearance of the season when Everton travel to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
The Belgium striker has been the subject of transfer speculation linking him with Chelsea and Koeman said that Lukaku had recovered from a cut to a heel in their final pre‑season match. “Romelu did his first training session this morning without any problem‚” he said. “The decision I need to make tomorrow is whether he’s part of Saturday’s squad.”
