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

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."

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.