'Mary Earps is the full package - why wouldn't I learn from her?' - England prospect Emily Ramsey opens up on her Man Utd exit, Everton return and Lionesses ambitions

When you’ve spent so long at one club, it’s never going to be easy to leave. But when Ramsey talks about her decision to move on from United earlier this year, she is confident that it was the right one.

“It was something that I think I had sort of come to terms with in my own head quite a long while before my contract was running out,” she admits. “I knew that for me, for the best of my career, that I wanted to move away and then luckily, I had the great experience last season and Everton is also close to home. It just felt like the perfect fit and I've really enjoyed all of my time here so far.

“The way Mary has played the past couple of seasons, you're never going to take her out of the team. She's been crowned the best goalkeeper in the world and I had to be realistic with that.

“It was difficult because obviously I've been there for so many years, but I was never given that real opportunity in the first team, especially the last couple of seasons, and I didn't feel I was getting that opportunity again so it wouldn't have been the right decision for me, for my career, [to stay].”

Before her contract had even expired, Ramsey had found a new home. The goalkeeper joined Everton on loan last season and quickly realised it was somewhere she enjoyed playing her football.

“We had conversations about [making the deal permanent] when I was here last year,” she says. “I knew I was going to be running out my contract at United. My focus was to play and I knew that if I was playing then I wanted to make that something permanent. I didn't want to sit on the bench behind another goalkeeper.

“Everton has a unique environment because there is me and Courtney [Brosnan] and we both played last year. I really felt the opportunity to grow with the manager's backing and I felt like I was going to be given the opportunity to play a good number of minutes this season, so it was a pretty easy decision.”

Ramsey talks highly of the style of play that Everton head coach Brian Sorensen wants to implement as being a factor in her desire to return, as well as the “cohesive group” of players in the squad.

“The main factor is the opportunity to get minutes in the WSL, which is my priority to move my career forward,” she explains. “The rest of it was a bonus, which moved me towards thinking, 'Definitely Everton'.”

But as Ramsey alludes to, those minutes are not guaranteed. She’s not left United and walked into a No.1 role. Everton is instead one of few clubs in the WSL where it genuinely feels like there isn’t a first-choice goalkeeper.

Brosnan, Ramsey’s competition, has been capped 28 times by Ireland, becoming her country’s No.1 in recent years and starting every game at their first Women’s World Cup this past summer. She’s played football in the United States, France and England, and is an excellent shot-stopper.

“It can be difficult for goalkeepers to balance that relationship,” Ramsey says. “I do think me and Courtney are quite good at it. We're friends on and off the pitch and we work well together, we push each other well. We both want to play, so one person will always be feeling a bit disappointed if they're not playing, but I think we're really good at making each other better.

“It’s a privilege to play and train with somebody like Courtney. She is a very lovely person and really supportive of the whole team. What more can you really ask for from a team-mate?”

Ramsey is hopeful that the situation can “bring the best out of both of us” and that’s certainly what coaches who choose to have two top goalkeepers fighting for one spot believe can happen. “I think you're always going to train and play better when you've got someone else that's pushing you to that level, when you're not just coasting,” Ramsey says.

It will be a great learning experience for her and it’s something she will have to get used to if success at club level is to translate to the international scene, too. After all, England have a heap of promising young shot-stoppers coming through behind Earps. Ellie Roebuck, who has been playing regularly for Manchester City for the best part of seven years, is still only 24 years old; Sandy MacIver, Roebuck's competition at club level, is 25; and Hannah Hampton, who signed for Chelsea from Aston Villa this summer, is 22 - the same age as Ramsey.

It's a highly competitive pool of goalkeepers that are all fighting hard for minutes at club level. Ramsey’s full focus is on Everton and how to be the best version of herself for the Toffees, but if she can achieve that, then you’d certainly think that those chances with England will come along.

That’s exactly what happened in February. In great form in the WSL, Ramsey – still uncapped at senior level – was called up by Sarina Wiegman for England’s Arnold Clark Cup campaign. It was just her second involvement with the Lionesses, having been part of a training camp two years prior.

Sadly, though, it would end prematurely. An ankle injury in training meant she withdrew from the squad midway through the competition and didn’t get the full window to show Wiegman what she could do. It also ruled her out of contention for Everton until May.

“It was a frustrating time to get injured,” Ramsey admits. “I felt like I missed quite a few key games and the World Cup was coming up. I wasn't expecting to be on the plane but I was hoping that if I had a good second half of the season, I could have put my name in the hat, that kind of thing. It was frustrating to miss out.

“I missed out on a derby at Goodison and we were playing a lot of teams around us in the league, so it was an important time of the season. I felt like I was in good form and probably would have got good minutes at that point, so I was a little bit frustrated, but it's football. That's what happens. You're going to pick up injuries along the way so I understood that. It was frustrating that it happened in an England camp, but hopefully no more this season.”

Getting another opportunity with her country isn’t at the forefront of Ramsey’s mind as she talks about the new season. Instead, it is on the things that got her that chance in the first place – playing well and helping Everton to win games.

The Toffees comfortably stayed away from the threat of relegation last year, allowing new head coach Sorensen to focus on implementing his philosophy. This term, it’s about building on that and trying to take the next steps forward.

“We want to improve on how we did last year when we're playing against the top four teams and hope to improve our place in the league,” Ramsey says. “We're just hoping to keep that winning mentality that we developed a bit last year. I think that's been missing from Everton’s women’s team over the last couple of years.

“It'll take time [to improve against the top four] but I think we have all the foundations to do it. We have a good squad, we have a good style of football, we're managed well so I think that it's just about in those big moments, in those big games, having a bit more consistency and cutting out a couple of errors.

“In this league, a lot of people give a lot of respect to the top four whereas I think it's important that we sort of change that mindset and be like, 'Well, okay, we want to win this game'. I think it'd be important for us to see that sort of shift with that winning mentality and go out and take anyone on. It doesn't matter what team it is in the league.”

The desire for a mentality like that offers a little insight into how Ramsey approaches her football. She’s ambitious, she's competitive and she strives to be better. It’s no wonder, given the top goalkeepers she’s been around. Mix it with her undoubted talent and there’s a reason why so many are excited about Ramsey’s future.