Goalkeeper opens door to Arsenal and Aston Villa transfer ahead of contract expiry

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Ben Foster of Watford Arsenal
WATFORD, ENGLAND - MAY 15: Ben Foster of Watford FC interacts with the crowd following the Premier League match between Watford and Leicester City at Vicarage Road on May 15, 2022 in Watford, England. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)

Former England goalkeeper Ben Foster has opened the door to two possible transfers this summer.

Foster has been with Watford since 2018, but he will move on this summer following the Hornets’ relegation to the Championship.

The goalkeeper’s contract expires at the end of June, and he will be looking for a new club ahead of that date,

Foster is likely to have good options in the Championship to stay as a number one, despite being 39 years of age.

But given his age, he has opened the door to playing a Scott Carson-type role at a Premier League club.

And Foster has named two Premier League clubs, in particular, as he eyes a supplementary role.

“Yeah I think I would to be honest with you,” he said on the Fozcast Podcast.

“If I’m signing for a club as a number two goalkeeper, depending on who the first-choice goalkeeper is, so say it was someone like Arsenal or even Aston Villa for example where you’ve got the first choice goalie I know is a world-class goalkeeper.

“So someone like Ramsdale or Emi Martinez, I know I’ve got a world-class goalkeeper in front of me who’s still at an age where they’re learning and they can get better – because they can, they’ve got the potential.

“I will, at that point, say, ‘Right I am going to help you as much as I can to maximise your ability and make sure that you become an absolute monster, a beast, and give you all the tools that I’ve learned.’

“I’d love to be able to do that, and I can happily go in every day [to training] knowing that’s my role because it’s an important role still, a massive role.

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“And I’d love to be able to do that and buzz off them making saves, I’d be that guy on the bench jumping up going, ‘Oh what a save! That’s my goalie! That’s my boy!’ It would be brilliant. I would love to do that.

“Whereas, on the other side of it, if I sign for a club and they say, ‘We’ve got a first choice goalie but we want you to be number two’, and when I get into that football club if I see him in training and I think I’m better than him, that will drive me even harder to prove to everyone that I’m still good to go.

“Don’t get me wrong, if it’s for someone like Rambo I’m still training my head off, because that’s what I’m like, I love training, I love putting the graft in.

“But it’s an interesting one, I think I would, I think I’m at an age where I could be a number two, I really could.

“I had to deal with it last year and even at the start of this season I wasn’t playing to start with, and I’m very good at getting behind the goalie that’s playing and being a cheerleader and getting him ready for the game.

“I think that comes with age as well, it’s something where you have to let your ego go and say, ‘It’s your turn, it’s your time, I’m going to help you get ready’.”

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