West Ham Stopper Looking Forward to Proving Himself at London Stadium in Crucial Year World Cup Year

West Ham goalkeeper Joe Hart is looking forward to proving himself as England's best stopper this season, and wants to fight off competition to be the national team's number one going into next year's World Cup.

The 30-year-old is spending the 2017/18 campaign on loan at the London Stadium from Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola having signed Ederson to be the new number one at the Etihad.

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Hart was shipped out on loan to Serie A outfit Torino last season as the Spaniard brought in Claudio Bravo from Barcelona, but the former Shrewsbury prospect is delighted to be back in the Premier League with West Ham.

He said, as quoted by the Mail: "I'm trying to make a point to Slaven. He's my coach. I'm trying to make my point to Gareth Southgate. They're my coaches. They're the people whose opinions I care about.

"Ideally I wanted to be signing a permanent deal somewhere so I could set my life up and have a direction. But that wasn't meant to be and West Ham have been absolutely fantastic towards me.

"I cannot be any more grateful for the opportunity they have given me. Slaven has come and Mr [David] Gold and Mr [David] Sullivan have come in and made their intentions clear that they want me to be here. There wasn't an awful lot of movement goalkeeper-wise this summer so I'm very grateful to get this opportunity."

Hart will be grateful given the importance of having a good season in 2017/18 - Jordan Pickford, Fraser Forster, Tom Heaton and Jack Butland will all be trying to stake their claims to be the Three Lions' number one in Russia next summer, and it is paramount for Hart to be starting regularly in the Premier League.