Replacing David De Gea With Andre Onana Was "A Mistake", Says Former Manchester United Goalkeeper Ben Foster

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster believes that his old club made a "mistake" by signing Andre Onana to replace David de Gea.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster believes that his old club made a "mistake" by signing Andre Onana.

Cameroon international Onana, 27, moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in a £47.2 million deal in July, after United allowed former no.1 David de Gea to leave on a free transfer.

Spanish stopper De Gea, 32, had been at United for 12 seasons and had made 545 appearances for the club.

David de Gea left Manchester United earlier this year after 12 seasons at Old Trafford :: Twitter/@ManUtd

De Gea - who won United's Player of the Year award four times - had originally agreed to extend his contract at Old Trafford.

But the club then decided to revoke that offer after deeming that his proposed salary was too high.

It is also understood that United manager Erik ten Hag was keen to replace De Gea with a goalkeeper who was better at playing out from the back with his feet.

Onana has endured an underwhelming start to his Red Devils career, keeping just three clean sheets in his first 11 appearances.

He has already made multiple high-profile errors and he admitted following a 4-3 defeat by Bayern Munich in September: "It's because of me we didn't win this game."

Andre Onana has made multiple errors since arriving at United as De Gea's replacement :: IMAGO/MIS

De Gea is currently still a free agent.

Foster - who played in 23 games for United between 2008 and 2010 - discussed his former club's goalkeeping situation on a recent edition of his podcast, The Cycling GK.

Foster was asked if United had made a mistake by signing Onana.

He replied: "Yes, without doubt. It's another mistake. It's a mistake that didn't need to happen.

"It's like the Arsenal one with Raya. It doesn't need to happen. Genuinely, it's a position that was already set, already sorted. Just leave it."

Arsenal signed David Raya from Brentford in August after manager Mikel Arteta decided that it would be healthy to bring in competition for England keeper Aaron Ramsdale.