I made nearly 400 Premier League appearances… but could have been a Cafe Rouge chef before Man Utd signed me

FORMER Manchester United keeper Ben Foster could have been a chef at Cafe Rouge before he was brought in at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils signed the English shot-stopper, 40, back in 2005 and he spent five years under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ben Foster could have been a chef before he signed for Manchester UnitedGetty

The keeper ended up playing 23 games for the Red DevilsGetty

Despite being a periphery player at the club, he did play 23 games for Man Utd and started their 2009 League Cup triumph over Tottenham, which they won on penalties.

Yet things could have been very different for Foster had he made a different choice early in his career.

The keeper trained as a chef at Cafe Rouge in Leamington Spa before agreeing a deal with Man Utd.

Then, back in 2016, when building his own house while playing for West Brom, Foster revealed he was continuing his love of cookery by building a kitchen and barbecue hut to satisfy his culinary skills.

Speaking to Express and Star, he said: “I am sorted out now.

“As long as I had a say on the kitchen and the cooking utensils that was fine by me.

“We’re really happy because it’s fairly close to the schools where the kids are going to, so it’s all great.

“It’s a brand new house that hasn’t even been built yet so I’m having a huge barbecue hut built on the side, which will be fantastic.

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“I honestly didn’t care about the house or what it looks like. My wife can decorate how she wants as long as I had a nice kitchen and a barbecue hut.

“It’s a shelter with a powerpoint for the fridge and a nice barbecue, so I’m happy.”

Foster racked up 390 Premier League appearances after spells with Man Utd, Watford, Birmingham and West Brom.

He joined Wrexham for a second spell with the Welsh club in 2022 and helped return them to the Football League after 15 years away.

Foster then hung up his gloves in August of last year.

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