The move of Ben Foster to West Brom
Ben Foster would walk out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Theatre of Dreams and never look back, leaving Manchester United for greener pastures, first at Birmingham City.
Foster made a remarkable 23 appearances for the Man United first team over two seasons before moving on for more regular minutes, first with the Blues and then later with the Baggies. It’s not as though the esteemed boss didn’t use Foster during his Red Devils days.
Following a single season at St. Andrew’s, Foster left for nearby West Brom, where he eventually established himself as an iconic figure after leaving Manchester United.
After a brief spell at the Blues, the current Championship club paid Foster £4.5 million, which would turn out to be an incredible deal. Foster went on to become a well-known member of the Baggies and was a dependable goalkeeper for many years while the team was a strong Premier League team.
What Ben Foster’s 2024 net worth would be
The 6 foot 4 goalkeeper would go on to make 223 appearances for West Brom over seven impactful seasons, becoming very much a part of the furniture at the West Midlands club by the time of his exit.
| West Brom lineup for Ben Foster’s Premier League debut | |
|---|---|
| West Brom 0-2 Man United, August 2011 | |
| 1. GK – Ben Foster | |
| 2. RB – Steven Reid | |
| 3. CB – Gabriel Tamas | |
| 4. CB – Jonas Olsson | |
| 5. LB – Nicky Shorey | |
| 6. RM – Chris Brunt | |
| 7. CM – Youssouf Mulumbu | |
| 8. CM – Paul Scharner | |
| 9. LM – James Morrison | |
| 10. ST – Somen Tchoyi | |
| 11. ST – Shane Long | |
| Sourced by Transfermarkt |
Throughout these games, Foster would end up keeping 57 clean sheets for the Baggies; his finest individual season occurred in 2014–15, when he recorded 12 shutouts from just 28 games played.
During that season, Foster’s club never truly worried about their top-flight position and dropped to the second level, where Corberan currently directs his Baggies troops. Meanwhile, West Brom finished 13th in the league with players like former sensation Saido Berahino scoring 20 goals.
Before making the big move to wealthy Wrexham AFC, Foster would eventually win over a new group of supporters at Watford, where he broke through the 200-game mark in Hertfordshire. However, West Brom supporters will always consider the eight-time England international to be a Baggies icon first and foremost.
He would be worth £12 million if the £4.5 million trade had happened today, making the Hawthorns’ decision even more brilliant when viewed through the lens of TotallyFootball’s Transfer Index, which accounts for inflation in the present day based on historical transfer transactions.
In every season since 1992, Totally Money has acquired the top 100 most expensive transactions ever made in each of the top five European leagues. Equipped with an abundance of past financial records, they have computed the current value of former football players, accounting for the notable inflation rate.
How Ben Foster’s value compares to the West Brom squad
Using the Transfer Index, Foster would now be worth three times more than the Baggies most valuable asset currently in Jed Wallace when first joining the club – the ex-Millwall man coming in as being worth €4.1M (£3.5m) according to Football Transfers.
That’s even with Wallace being as key as Palmer has been in patches for the promotion chasers this campaign so far, with the ageing midfielder helping himself to nine goals and assists across 35 appearances in all competitions.
| West Brom’s most valuable players – 2023/24 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Jed Wallace | €4.1m (£3.5m) |
| 2. Okay Yokuslu | €3.5m (£2.99m) |
| 3. Brandon Thomas-Asante | €3.4m (£2.91m) |
| 4. Conor Townsend | €3.4m (£2.91m) |
| 5. Darnell Furlong | €3.4m (£2.91m) |
| Sourced by Football Transfers | |
According to the above table, Foster is clearly the most valuable player when compared to players like Okay Yokuslu and Brandon Thomas-Asante, who are all trying to help the goalie reach the heights at which he achieved when playing for West Brom.
Foster’s career ended with a whimper rather than a spectacular comeback at Watford, when he hung up his boots at the Red Dragons after conceding 13 goals in just four games while playing in League Two’s bottom tier.
With West Brom vying for promotion to the top division, Palmer will aim to be remembered in the same vain as Foster. As a constant in every starting lineup used in the league thus far, Palmer is currently the number one player for West Brom and is among the first names on his manager’s teamsheet.
Foster, who is 40 years old now, is becoming more well-known online than as a skilled shot-blocker. Nonetheless, the 6′ 4 goalie is still regarded as a West Brom legend by those with ties to the West Midlands team.
As Kelan was a student at the University of Leeds studying English Language and Literature, he got interested in football writing and eventually started a blog to talk about his side, Peterborough United.
As a result, Kelan began writing for numerous websites, such as BreakingTheLines and TheRealEFL, and conversing with football players like Carlton Palmer, Neil Redfearn, David Artell, Don Goodman, and Luke Chadwick in podcasts and interviews.
Additionally, Kelan has occasionally discussed all things EFL and his beloved Posh on TalkSport, BBC Radio Manchester, BBC Radio Berkshire, and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.
Kelan, who recently completed her MA in journalism at the University of Sheffield, is thrilled to have been hired by FFC.
Aside from football and writing, Kelan loves to read, attend concerts, and take in all that Leeds, the amazing city, has to offer!
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