Signing Joe Hart was a brilliant decision on the part of Celtic. A lot of eyebrows were raised when the club decided to bring him in from Tottenham Hotspur and hand him a three-year deal. It is understandable why. At the top of his game, he had been a Premier League-winning goalkeeper for Manchester City but the Englishman had not been a regular starter for a club for years.

Hart had been a back up option in goal for Tottenham Hotspur last season. But following the arrival of Nuno Espirito Santo as manager in the summer, it looked like he was set to lose that role as well and fall further behind in the pecking order.

Hart has revealed about the brutal conversation that he had with Santo, before he ended up deciding to leave Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

While speaking with In The Stiffs Podcast and as reported by The Sun, the current Celtic number one said:

“There was a big change going on at Tottenham. They needed a lot of people out and a lot of people in. [Nuno] proceeded to call me in.

“I knew they were signing another goalkeeper and I was like: ‘Do we need to have a conversation?’ He said that we’d speak after training.

“He was like: ‘I’ll speak first. Let’s be absolutely clear, no matter what happens, you’ll not kick a ball this year.’

“I had got on really well at the club, people had bought into what I was trying to bring and I was like: ‘Right, okay.’

“He said: ‘You’ll be free to work with the sporting director to get yourself out. However you want to play it, play it.’

“I said: ‘Just out of interest, remove yourself from the situation, you used to be a goalkeeper, why has it come to this? Why have I gone from being whoever I was to being completely surplus to requirements in a squad, to not even being able to back up the first-choice? Speak freely.’

“He just went: ‘In my opinion, we all reach a point in our career where the body won’t allow you to play football. We’re at it now. I would not feel comfortable with you playing one minute for me. The ball’s too quick for you, you’re too old, you’re not moving, you’ve got no strength in your body.’”

Hart reveals why he left Tottenham Hotspur for Celtic in the summer

It is safe to say that Hart has proven Santo wrong since joining Celtic. The goalkeeping situation at Parkhead was not great last season, with Vasilis Barkas, Scott Bain and Conor Hazard, all failing to establish themselves as the number one between the posts for any considerable length of time.

Hart has come in and immediately established him as the man with the first-team gloves. He has become a leader in this side as well, something that they needed following Scott Brown’s departure in the summer.

Thus, it must be said that Celtic fans must be delighted with the fact that the club decided to sign Hart in the summer.

On the other hand, things did not go Santo’s way at Tottenham Hotspur and he was shown the exit door just four months into his run at the club.

This article was originally posted here