When Joe Hart was dropped for Manchester City’s first game of the season against Sunderland, his City career prospects had never looked bleaker.
Joe’s not used to being a second choice ‘keeper, but with the news that Barcelona’s Claudio Bravo is set for a medical with the Citizens, even being number two might be a distant dream.
He’s been around for a while hasn’t he?
Yes, that much is true. At 33 years of age, Bravo is no spring chicken, but for his age he can certainly move like one. Bravo is enjoying a bit of a renaissance in his career, joining Barcelona just two years ago – age is but a number Manchester City fans!
OK, so is he any good?
He is! Bravo comes in at only six feet tall, but his reactions could be best described as ‘cat-like’. The Chilean is happy getting down to the ball, probably due to his height, and likes to distribute quickly, a feature Guardiola will value.
Well that sounds fine – is he a winner?
Lucky for City fans, it looks as though Bravo saved all his trophy polish for his latter years. In the two years he’s been with the Catalan club, they’ve won the treble followed by the domestic double. The bad news? Bravo has mainly been played in the league, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen filling in during cup runs. Sorry!
And is he internationally proven?
Very much so, and far more proven than Hart. Bravo is Chile’s all-time leading appearance maker, with 106 caps, and captained Chile at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Bravo also led Chile to the first major tournament victory in their history at the 2015 Copa America, retaining the title in 2016. Sound good?
Is there anything else we should know?
I suppose you might be interested to know that Bravo has a goal to his name – and not even from a goal kick! During the 2009-10 season, Bravo notched a direct free kick against Gimnastic de Tarragona which turned out to be the winner. Bravo!