Guardiola regrets not keeping Hart as Man City goalkeeper

Pep Guardiola has shared his biggest regret at Manchester City. He wishes he had listened to Joe Hart's request to stay as the club's goalkeeper.

Guardiola will coach his last match for City on Sunday against Aston Villa. This match ends his impressive 10-year time with the club in Manchester.

During his time at City, the Spaniard has won 20 trophies. This includes six Premier League titles and the club’s first Champions League trophy.

But Guardiola has one big regret about his successful time at the Etihad Stadium. Just weeks after he took over, he sent Hart out on loan to Torino. He then signed Claudio Bravo in 2016 and Ederson the next season.

Hart was a regular for England at that time. He asked Guardiola for a chance to show he could be the type of goalkeeper who starts attacks with his passing.

“I want to confess, I have regrets. When you take a lot of decisions, a lot, lot of decisions, you make mistakes,” Guardiola told Sky Sports.

“But there is one regret that I have deep inside for many years, that I didn’t give a chance to Joe Hart to be with me to prove himself how good a keeper he was.

“I should have done, not because… all respect for Claudio, all respect for Ederson who came in, they were important, but in that moment, I could have said, ‘Okay Joe, let’s try to do it together. If it doesn’t work, okay, we’ll change it’.

“But it happened. Life is sometimes… I have to take decisions, and sometimes I’m not fair enough.”

Guardiola said he learned from the experience with Hart. Hart was upset about the decision at that time. Guardiola added, “Maybe with time then and learning. But I regret it from that time.

“In that moment, I said, ‘I believe in that’. Always I am stubborn in my decisions when I believe in that.

“When I have doubts, I talk with people, but when I’m completely sure, 100 per cent, I say, ‘Guys, we have to do it in that way’, and I have been at a club that has supported me absolutely in everything with that.”

Guardiola, who is very driven, said handling players' emotions is one of the toughest parts of being a manager. This is especially true for players who are not in the team.

“If in that I failed, I do apologise, but it never, never was my intention or the intention of the club,” he said.