Joe Hart’s departure is Guardiola’s biggest regret at Manchester City

Pep Guardiola’s biggest regret during his decade at Manchester City was letting goalkeeper Joe Hart leave, the outgoing manager says.

“When you make a lot of decisions, a lot of decisions, you make mistakes,” Guardiola, who will leave City after their final Premier League match at home to Aston Villa on Sunday, told Aston Villa. Air sports in an interview.

«There’s one thing that’s been deep inside me for years, is that I didn’t give Joe Hart the opportunity to be with me to prove how good he was. I could have said, ‘OK, Joe, let’s try to do it together. If it doesn’t work, OK, we’ll change it… But it happened.’ I have to make decisions, and sometimes I’m not fair enough. Maybe with time and learning…but I’ve regretted it ever since.”

After taking over in 2016, Guardiola sent England keeper Hart on loan to Torino and West Ham United. Hart left for Burnley permanently in 2018, after 348 games for City in twelve years.

He later played briefly for Tottenham Hotspur before ending his career at Celtic.

Guardiola, who led City to six Premier League titles, a Champions League win and the Club World Cup, said dealing with human emotions was the most difficult part of being a manager.

«If I fail in that, I apologize, but that was never my intention or the intention of the club,» the 55-year-old Spaniard added.

Published on May 23, 2026