Ben Foster has urged his former club Manchester United to sign Newcastle goalkeeper Nick Pope in the summer transfer window.
Foster feels the Red Devils are ‘absolutely crying out for a goalkeeper’ before the 2025-26 Premier League season gets underway in 10 days.
United’s No.1 goalkeeper Andre Onana picked up a hamstring injury last month and has not played in any of the club’s friendlies over the summer.
Onana is hoping to return for the start of the season – but even when he’s been fit – he’s faced widespread criticism for his performances and errors.
United have been linked to a number of goalkeepers this summer and saw a loan bid rejected for Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez.
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The Red Devils have also reportedly been interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain superstar Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Ben Foster: Nick Pope is your boy!
Foster, though, has urged United to take a look at Newcastle star Pope in the summer window, which remains open until September 1.
Newcastle paid £10m to sign Pope from Burnley in 2022 – and Football Insider claim it would take £10-£15m to recruit him from the Magpies.
The 33-year-old has been capped 10 times by England to date and faces competition from new signing Aaron Ramsdale at Newcastle this season.
‘Manchester United are crying out for a goalkeeper, absolutely crying out for a goalkeeper,’ Foster said on his YouTube channel.
‘Honestly, you’d do so much worse than getting Nick Pope. Man United don’t necessarily just go all-out play straight from the back, that’s not their style anyway.
‘I think Nick Pope can still play out from the back, by the way. I’m not demeaning him, he can still play out from the back.
‘But if you’re looking to get it to the forward areas as quickly as possible, Nick Pope is your boy. And he will stop goals, it’s as simple as that.
‘Onana’s had this big injury at the start of pre-season, he’s looking like he’ll only get back fit maybe just for the start of the season.
‘But you don’t want that from your goalkeeper, you want him to have had four, five pre-season games under his best, weeks and weeks of training, get that into the legs.
‘And there was also a lot of questions raised at the end of last season thinking he will probably not be the first-choice goalkeeper.’
Pope has played a total of 95 games for Newcastle to date across all competitions and has plenty of Premier League experience.