Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, openly admitted that one of the decisions that has lingered in his mind throughout his 10 years leading the "Sky Blues" was not giving Joe Hart, the former first-choice goalkeeper, the chance to prove himself on the field.
On 23 May 2026, during an interview with Sky Sports, Pep was asked if his first season was his best memory. He revealed that there was one thing he regretted and had felt unsettled about for many years, and he straightforwardly admitted it was not giving Hart the opportunity to prove himself.
"When you have to make many decisions, you inevitably make mistakes. One thing that has weighed deeply on me for many years is that I did not give Joe Hart the chance to show how good a goalkeeper he really was."
Pep also admitted that if he could turn back time, he would have tried giving Hart a chance to adapt to the team's style of play first.
"If I could go back, I would say to Hart, 'Let's try this together.' If it really didn’t work out, then we could change. But that time has passed, and sometimes in life, a manager has to make decisions, and sometimes I wasn’t fair enough."
Looking back to 2016, after Pep took over as Manchester City manager, one of his first decisions was to drop Joe Hart, the England national team goalkeeper and fan favorite, reasoning that Hart did not meet the requirement of playing with his feet, a key element in Pep’s system.
In the end, Hart was transferred out of the team while Pep brought in goalkeepers whose style better suited his tactical approach.
However, despite the passage of time and Pep’s many successes leading Manchester City, he admitted that the matter of Joe Hart remains one of the decisions he still "feels guilty" about and it stays with him to this day.