By Chris Wright
Manchester United ‘keeper Ben Foster is all but set to join Birmingham City for an initial fee of £4 million (potentially rising to £6 million if various performance-based clauses are activated), pending the completion of a medical later today.
Foster has only made a single appearance for the United first team since falling foul of manager Sir Alex Ferguson earlier in the season, following the dropping of a series of high-profile clangers.
The 27-year-old stopper has decided to call time on his five-year United career, after falling behind both veteran first-choice stopper Edwin Van Der Sar and Tomasz Kuszczak in the pecking order at the club.
Can’t help thinking Brum have got themselves a decent deal here.
Foster buckled under the weight of expectation at Old Trafford, but he will be operating under far less pressure (and will have less competition for the ‘No. 1’ jersey) at Birmingham and I can see that kind of freedom allowing him to regain the kind of good form that he enjoyed whilst on loan at Watford just a few short years ago.
£6 million is admittedly a little rich for my taste, but you can’t lose sight of the fact that, on his day, Foster is actually a very competent ‘keeper – if he keeps his mind-wanderings to a minimum.