West Ham boss Slaven Bilic reveals admiration for Joe Hart
Friday 3 February 2017 23:27, UK
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has revealed his admiration for Joe Hart, but has insisted he is not currently thinking about making a move for the England goalkeeper.
Sky sources understand the Hammers are interested in signing the 29-year-old in the summer once his season-long loan spell with Serie A side Torino comes to an end.
Hart told Sky Sports in December that he saw his long-term future away from parent club Manchester City, having been quickly frozen out following the arrival of manager Pep Guardiola at the Etihad last summer.
However, Bilic claimed signing a goalkeeper is not a top priority for him, citing current stoppers Darren Randolph and Adrian as the reason why.
"We are heavily linked with every player looking for a move. I rate Joe Hart really highly as a great goalkeeper and personality," Bilic said.
"On the other hand, if there is one position that I am not even thinking of changing it is goalkeeper because I have two great ones."
West Ham face Southampton at St Mary's on Saturday aiming to bounce back from their emphatic 4-0 home defeat to Manchester City in midweek.
Central defender Jose Fonte left the Saints to join West Ham in January and is expected to start against his former side, despite having a debut to forget against City.
Fonte, who gave away a penalty in the loss at London Stadium, has received the backing of Bilic ahead of the trip down to the south coast, and has even been giving his new boss the inside scoop on his old team.
"Jose didn't have a great game a couple of days ago but he is a great asset for us and a great player, and we are going to benefit from him," said Bilic.
"We have spoken about Southampton and he has only got good memories about the club. He was captain there and he's looking forward to going there and playing.
"We have spoken about their team. He knows them the best and it's always good to have that information.
"There are no secrets in football. But if you watch Southampton's three or four latest games then he can tell you a bit of insider stories, like about individuals, what they are good at, or not.
"You have to find out something like 'I didn't know that', because now football is more or less an open book - but it's good to know, definitely."
Bilic added: "Injury-wise, we had a recover day on Thursday and we have nothing serious. Sam Byram has a hamstring but we hope he will be okay."
