Barcelona have confirmed that goalkeeper Claudio Bravo missed training on Sunday as the wait is now on for an official announcement of his move to Manchester City.
The situation was confirmed on the club’s official Twitter account, as seen below, leading to further speculation that the Chilean international is ultimately on the cusp of becoming a City player.
?? Claudio Bravo misses training with the permission of the club. Six players from Barça B join the session. pic.twitter.com/xPmTscNPYL
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 21, 2016
As reported by ESPN FC, Barca sporting director Robert Fernandez confirmed on Saturday night that a deal was in place for the transfer, with the Premier League giants said to be paying €25m to add the 33-year-old to Pep Guardiola’s squad.
“We have the beginning of an agreement in principle with Manchester City for Claudio Bravo,” Robert revealed to TV3.
“We need to sign a goalkeeper. We are waiting events this week. When Claudio leaves, we hope to have a new goalkeeper.”
The move will likely now seal the end of Joe Hart’s time at the club, with the England international being dropped by Guardiola for all three competitive games so far this season.
Willy Caballero isn’t seen as a long-term solution, hence the move for Bravo, but it will certainly be a huge disappointment for Hart to have to seek a new challenge having spent the best part of a decade as City’s first-choice shot-stopper.
It remains to be seen whether or not Guardiola has made the right decision, but ultimately the Spaniard wants a goalkeeper that offers reassurances in terms of keeping his focus throughout an entire game while also having an ability to play out from the back and start attacks.
Hart evidently hasn’t been able to tick those boxes, but as proven during his time at Barca, Bravo has the confidence of the City boss to do the job for him.