Blues sign England keeper Joe Hart on one-year loan
Jun 22 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post
The renovation of Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City squad continued over the weekend with the acquisition of further young talent.
Although it hadn’t been confirmed by the club, the expected arrival of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart on a season-long loan is complete.
The recruitment of Hart for the forthcoming Premier League season is, so far, the most exciting of all of the Birmingham manager’s summer transfer dealings.
Rated as one of the finest of his crop, the 22-year-old has already been capped at senior level and is representing the in-form England Under-21s at the European Championships in Sweden.
McLeish is trying to lower the average age of his Birmingham squad and inject youth alongside existing elder statesman at St Andrew’s such as Lee Carsley, Maik Taylor and Kevin Phillips.
Hart’s arrival is hot on the heels of the signings of 22-year-old centre back Scott Dann, from Coventry City, and 23-year-old forward Christian Benitez, from Mexican club Santos Laguna.
Add to that the capture of 30-somethings Stephen Carr, Giovanny Espinoza and Lee Bowyer, a deal not yet complete but one that is expected, and it appears that McLeish and his Birmingham board are already developing a blend that is crucial for Premier League survival.
Shrewsbury-born Hart was bought from his hometown club by Manchester City in 2006 before spending loan spells at Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool the following year. Hart has previously been City’s first-choice goalkeeper and, had it not been for the arrival of Shay Given in January, then the likelihood is that he would have remained in that position.
This latest piece of business is now likely to see the experienced Taylor begin the new season on the substitutes’ bench as Hart wouldn’t have left Eastlands without a guarantee of regular first-team football, because he harbours dreams of joining the England senior squad for next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.
Speaking from Stuart Pearce’s under-21 camp, Hart said: “The coach (Fabio Capello) has said you need to be playing, That is what you want to be doing anyway, regardless of whether it gets you in the England side.”
Meanwhile defender Djimi Traore, who spent the end of last season on loan at Birmingham, has opted to join French club AS Monaco on a two-year deal, having been released by parent club Portsmouth, in preference to making his move to St Andrew’s permanent.
