• England goalkeeper believes return to Etihad Stadium next season is unlikely • ‘Top of my wishlist is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper’

Joe Hart acknowledges his future is uncertain and believes being a club’s No1 goalkeeper is more important than making a Premier League return.

The England keeper has made 26 appearances for Torino this season after being allowed to leave Manchester City for the Serie A side on loan last summer by Pep Guardiola.

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Hart admits he does not know where he will be playing next season but thinks going back to the Etihad Stadium is unlikely. “I’d say I’m pretty much surplus to requirements at my parent club at the moment,” he told the BBC’s Premier League Show.

“I want to play football, I love to play football. If that opportunity’s not going to be given there then I’m going to have to look elsewhere and I may have to make somewhere else my home.

“I don’t know where my future lies, in terms of time-wise, because I’ve certainly had no communication with anyone.

“The best thing that I can do is work hard, do my best for Torino, do my best when I represent my country and hopefully the rest will take care of itself.

“I love the Premier League but I wouldn’t say it’s top of my wishlist. Top of my wishlist is to play for a club that wants me to be their goalkeeper.”

Hart played one match under former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach Guardiola at City – a Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest in August – before being allowed to move to Italy.

The 29-year-old, who has won 68 England caps, does not believe Guardiola’s treatment of him was personal. “I want to say it was really bad but it wasn’t because I kind of saw it coming,” he added. “You just pick up vibes and it certainly wasn’t a surprise to me.

“I’d love to have stayed and fought and showed what I could do but I don’t have that time, especially as a goalkeeper. You can’t come off the bench for 10 minutes and prove your worth, you’re either in or you’re out.

“I’m all up for a fight – I’ll fight my corner all day – but if you’re not going to win then there’s no point in fighting, especially someone as powerful as that at Manchester City.

“I know it’s nothing personal on me, he’s not that kind of guy. He didn’t do it to ruin my life. He did it because he thought that was what was right for him to win as a manager. I had to look elsewhere and here I am.”

Speaking at a press conference to preview City’s FA Cup quarter-final at Middlesbrough this weekend, Guardiola said: “I have said many times we will explain about all the cases at the end of the season - the cases of the players that are here, the players who are happy or unhappy and the players who are on loan. Joe is a player for Manchester City and we are going to decide at the end of the season.”