23 March 2023 , 11:00
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Veteran goalkeeper Ben Foster has come out of retirement to sign for Wrexham in the highest-profile transfer since the Welsh club's Hollywood takeover.
England international Foster, who will turn 40 in early April, last played for Watford in the Premier League at the end of last season, but he moves to the Racecourse Ground until the end of the season having previously enjoyed a loan spell with the Welsh club back in 2005 when they won the LDV Vans Trophy.
The former Manchester United goalkeeper had still been in demand in the Premier League, and he rejected a move to Newcastle at the start of the season when he announced his retirement.
Tottenham had also attempted to move for the eight-times capped international in the wake of an injury to Hugo Lloris, but they saw a January move blocked.
“I’m over the moon. I’ve been at the club an hour this morning and it seems a really nice place. Everyone is down to earth and the manager’s top class," Foster told the Wrexham website.
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“It’s changed a lot since I was last here, but it’s nice to be back and it’s nice to be back as a player too. It will be interesting to see how my body feels after training today! I’m looking forward to getting started.
“The first time I was here, it was genuinely the springboard to the rest of my career – on the back of the loan move, playing in the LDV Vans Trophy Final at the Millennium Stadium, I got my move to Manchester United at the start of the next season. It was absolutely bonkers!
Ben Foster has won eight caps for England (AFP via Getty Images)“If you’d told me 18 years ago that I’d have gone on to have the career that I have had, I probably wouldn’t have believed you to be honest so I do owe a lot to Wrexham.”
Wrexham, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are three points clear at the top of the National League as they bid to return the club to the Football League after a 15-year absence.
Their current No.1 goalkeeper Rob Lainton has suffered a knee injury and will miss the next six weeks.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are trying to take Wrexham into the Football League (PA)Foster had initially announced his retirement on his YouTube channel in September last year, saying: "The time has finally come for me to announce my retirement. I have got a belting story for you and it will explain my reasons why I know finally that it is time to hang the gloves up and enter retirement."
Reflecting on his decision to reject Newcastle, who had approached him after an injury to Karl Darlow, he said: "I was just eating my dinner and I thought ‘no, I’m not doing it’
"I’ve got to be happy and comfortable and I wouldn’t be able to do that so far away from my family. It would kill me."