Trevor Sinclair believes Joe Hart secured the ‘perfect fit’ by joining Celtic as the goalkeeper has proven that any doubts about his ‘hunger’ were wrong, via quotes by The Scottish Sun.
Bhoys boss Ange Postecoglou moved to sign Hart last year after ruling out Vasilis Barkas as his first-choice shot-stopper quickly. The 27-year-old started the Australian’s first fixture in charge at Parkhead last July. Yet he has only featured once across the Hoops’ following 53.
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Barkas also only returned to guard the Glasgow outfit’s net at St Johnstone on Boxing Day as Hart was injured. Otherwise, the £1m arrival from Tottenham Hotspur has started all 48 of his appearances from 49 games. He sat out Celtic’s 3-2 dead-rubber win over Real Betis.
Hart has proven Postecoglou’s swoop a success with 24 clean sheets over his Celtic games to date. But Sinclair feared how the 34-year-old would fare in Scotland, having only played 10 games with Spurs last season and watching all 38 Premier League fixtures on the bench.
The 75-cap England international also only played on three occasions for Burnley across all competitions during the 2019/20 campaign. He lost the starting role at Turf Moor halfway through the 2018/19 season after conceding 41 goals across 19 Premier League matches.
Trevor Sinclair admits fears Joe Hart may ‘lack that hunger’ before Celtic move
From winning three of 19 matches for Burnley to playing zero Premier League games over the following two-and-a-half seasons, Sinclair admits he feared if Hart would still have the hunger to prove himself all over again at Celtic upon leaving Tottenham over the summer.
“Joe’s a wealthy boy and sometimes when you have the wealth he’s got, you can lack that hunger to want to prove yourself again every season or in every game,” Sinclair claimed. “Whether it’s training, games, different clubs – it’s all about proving yourself again.
“I wasn’t sure Joe had that fight. It looked like he was struggling a touch. I wasn’t sure if, because he was so comfortable, that he might just fade away. But he’s proved to me the personality I thought he had is still there, shown his true colours and come back flying.
“This move was the perfect fit. I’m so pleased for Joe and I’ve said that to him. Both Celtic and Manchester City are huge clubs. I played with him when he was young at City, saw him progress to become England No.1. Now, I’ve watched him play for my club, Celtic.”
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