'I was fairly concerned... you just have a feeling, don't you?': Joe Hart admits he feared Manchester City exit when Pep Guardiola took charge in 2016 and opens up on how the coronavirus lockdown has made him intent on returning to play football

Pep Guardiola made it emphatically clear to Joe Hart that he needed to leave Manchester City after he returned from England's disastrous campaign at Euro 2016, the former Premier League winner has revealed.

Hart had been almost ever-present for six seasons when Guardiola joined the club from Bayern Munich, immediately signalling the end of a City career that had seen the goalkeeper help the Spaniard's new employers to the title in the 2011/12 and 2013/14 seasons.

'I was fairly concerned,' Hart told the Guardian, recalling his return from an ignominious tournament in which England won just once and suffered a wretched defeat against Iceland in a shock round of 16 exit in France.