Alan Pardew shipped him out to Celtic on loan - then said Forster was gaining nothing because the Scottish league was "so poor it defies belief".
Forster stalled Celtic contract offers for a season - and for most of the summer - hoping an English Premiership would sign him.
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce thought long and hard about it, but gave up in the end, and Celtic got their man.
Pardew went off the keeper during a pre-season friendly at Darlington when Forster produced a poor display, and the new Toon gaffer wondered if the 6ft 7" keeper had what it takes for the top flight.
Forster joins Ryan Shawcross and Kieran Gibbs as the new faces in the England squad.
With John Terry now retired from international football, there had been plenty of speculation about who the fourth central defender would be.
Tottenham's Steven Caulker seemed like the obvious choice but he was named in Stuart Pearce's Under-21 squad yesterday, so Stoke's Shawcross has been picked for only the second time, having failed to win a cap when he was chosen for the friendly against Egypt by Fabio Capello in March 2010.