David James: Joe Hart is better than Iker Casillas

Former England goalkeeper David James has expressed his belief that Manchester City shot-stopper Joe Hart is currently the best goalkeeper in Europe.

Hart, 25, took over the number one jersey from James following England's disappointing World Cup two years ago, and the two were also briefly teammates at City before the latter left to join Portsmouth.

Now, James believes that Hart has matured into the best keeper in Europe, even better than the man Hart himself cited as the player he tries to model his game on - Iker Casillas.

"Joe is better than Casillas," James said. "He is recognised as number one because he won the World Cup and European Championship and has been fortunate to be at one of the biggest clubs in Europe for years, but Joe's distribution is 10 times better than Casillas's.

"He makes all the saves, he takes all the crosses. He can do much more than Casillas. If Casillas was in the Premier League, he would struggle. Put him in Wolves' team. See how good he is then.

"Joe is head and shoulders above everyone else with England now and I would struggle to see a better goalkeeper in Europe."

Hart made his England debut in 2008 and has since gone on to win 17 caps for the national side.