Sir Alex Ferguson has come out and stated that Ben Foster will not be leaving the club in January and that he wants to hold on to the England international. The 26 year old keeper was the number one at the start of the season due to an injury to Edwin van der Saar but now finds himself third in the pecking order.


Foster is still in the England frame, however, and claimed his club situation was "disheartening" after playing in the defeat against Brazil last weekend.
But Ferguson said: "He is definitely staying. He will be a terrific keeper."


After playing his second consecutive game for England in Qatar, Foster expressed frustration with his predicament, pointing out that while he was playing regularly for his country he was unable to play week in week out in a Man Utd shirt.


That led to reports that Foster could move away from United in the January transfer window in order to earn a place in England manager Fabio Capello's World Cup squad, with a loan move the most likely.
Foster made his name during two separate loan moves to Watford - but his manager insists there is no chance of another switch in the New Year.


"He has had a couple of bad mistakes in games but his performance level has been very good," added Ferguson.
"Ben is a strong lad. Without doubt he is England's best goalkeeper. Without question he has the best presence and he is the quickest. He is also very brave.
"But for a lad of 26 he has not had much game experience. That is the negative part for him and that is where maybe it will cost him his England position at the moment."



"However, I am not protecting the lad because he is my goalkeeper but when I look at the abilities of the goalkeepers in the league who are English, I don't think they are as good as Ben Foster. It is as simple as that."