Lionesses star Mary Earps explains ‘difficult’ decision to leave WSL & Man Utd as she followed ‘feeling’ to Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent

The 31-year-old goalkeeper won the FA Cup with United a matter of weeks before seeing her contract expire. After five seasons with the Red Devils, England international Earps made the brave call to leave her homeland and head to France.

Earps has told The Guardian of bidding farewell to Manchester: “It was difficult because I love the game so much and I also really have a lot of love for Manchester United. I spent five years of my life and career there and careers are short. That is such a significant period of time and I felt like it was a significant development stage as well, to who I became as a player but also who I became as a person. So, now everything has settled, I can have such incredible memories and I’m really grateful. Quite a few Man United fans have come out to watch me in Paris, which is really cool. We have a bit of a chat on the side afterwards and we’re able to reminisce a little bit … it’s just nice to feel that connection because it was such a massive part of my life.”

Earps has previously enjoyed a brief stint in Germany with Wolfsburg and added on her decision to head for Paris: “It was down to the feeling I had and the conversations that I was having. I felt like the way that the club wanted to kick on and the ambitions and vision that they set out, for me, they were very clear and unapologetic about wanting to be the best on and off the pitch. Now, granted, that’s not going to happen overnight.”

PSG slipped out of the Women’s Champions League shortly after welcoming Earps onto their books, as they lost to Juventus at the qualifying stage, and the two-time winner of the FIFA Best Women’s Goalkeeper award now faces a fight for starting berths with club and country.