Celtic goalkeeper and former England international Joe Hart has announced he will retire at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Hart, 36, is most well-known for his 12 years at Manchester City — for whom he made 348 first-team appearances.
“Physically, I feel great, I feel as good as I possibly can do for my age,” Hart explained on Thursday as he confirmed his retirement.
“But I’m aware that time waits for no man and I don’t want my body to be retiring me, so that was one of the key factors — thinking that I can smash through the finish line.”
Hart continued: “Obviously, I’ve thought about this a lot, (there are) loads of key factors that have come into it, I think the right the right time is now I’ve got the clarity of mind.
“I think the hardest thing for me was once I’d made the decision was to explain that although I intend on finishing from June onwards, I’m so up for it, I’m so still so involved and still so committed.”
Hart, who was capped 75 times by England, won two Premier League titles with City and won the league’s Golden Glove award for the most clean sheets in four separate seasons.
The goalkeeper began his career at Shrewsbury Town, where he played 58 games before joining City in 2006.
Hart, who enjoyed a Premier League loan spell at Birmingham City in the 2009-10 campaign having previously had stints on loan at Tranmere Rovers and Blackpool, made his final appearance for Man City in August 2016 before successive season-long loan spells at Italian club Torino and West Ham United respectively.
The shot-stopper then made 24 first-team appearances across two seasons at Burnley, before spending the 2020-21 campaign at Tottenham Hotspur.
Hart joined Scottish side Celtic in the summer of 2021 and has helped the side win five trophies since including back-to-back league titles.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers said that Hart will be a “huge miss to the game” having been a “brilliant asset” for the Scottish club across his three seasons in Glasgow.
Hart’s final appearance at international level came in 2017, having represented England in four successive major tournaments between 2010 and 2016.
(Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
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