‘It’s a blessing and a curse,” says Mary Earps. “Naturally, when you get named the Fifa Best goalkeeper, expectations do raise, and especially when you do it twice. People expect more of you.”
That is a pressure the England international, who joined Paris Saint-Germain in the summer at the end of her contract at Manchester United, deals with on a daily basis. But she does not want that to change. “It is a massive compliment but you do get criticised more and held to a higher standard,” she says. “Then the extraordinary is expected. But the reality of it is that I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m really grateful for everything I’ve achieved and the exciting thing is that I still feel like I’ve got room for improvement.”
Eyes are on Earps, who moved to France after five years in Manchester. Her new journey hit a first big bump when PSG failed to reach the group stage of the Champions League, losing 5-2 to Juventus on aggregate in the second round of qualifying last month.
“I can’t really put it any other way than it was gutting,” she says. “Especially with that being a massive factor into why I made the move. We didn’t play our best and we got what we deserved, but it is really hard to get past.”
The words “gutting”, “disappointing” and “unfortunate” feature numerous times in a lengthy answer laced with all three in tone as well as content. Earps says there is “nothing we can do about it now, we can only go forward and improve”, but the pain of the exit is still evident.
“New players and a new coach, those things are going to take time to come together and you could see that in the way that we played a little bit,” she says. “We just need a little bit more time together and it’ll click. As the season has gone on you can see that in the results and the performances. Since then, it’s been steadily improving.”
Champions League football was not the only reason Earps chose PSG when her contract expired after two years of will-she-won’t-she talk. “It was down to the feeling I had and the conversations that I was having,” she says.
“The way the club wanted to kick on and the ambitions and vision they set out, 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.”
Earps is one of the most recognisable faces of English football, mainly because of her achievements on the pitch, winning Euro 2022 and reaching the World Cup final with the Lionesses a year later, but also for hitting out at Nike for not making her England replica shirt available for sale after the World Cup. She has also won over fans with some sweary on-pitch rants.
She had become synonymous with United, joining a year after the women’s team were formed. She grew as a player, as did the team, finishing second in the WSL in 2023 and winning the FA Cup this year. However, six weeks later she said she was leaving because “the club is about to undergo a period of transition, and unfortunately I don’t feel it aligns with the timing of where I’m at in my career”.
The 31-year-old admits the exit was a hugely challenging time. “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. That is such a significant period of time and it was a significant development stage as well, to who I became as a player but also who I became as a person.
“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.”
Born in Nottingham, Earps represented West Bridgford before joining Leicester and then Tottenham. Her senior career has also taken in Doncaster Rovers Belles, Birmingham, Bristol Academy, Reading and, for one season, Wolfsburg, where she won the German league and cup double in 2019.
“Wolfsburg really kickstarted something in me,” she says. “I don’t know if it was moving away from home for the first time, I don’t know if it was being in a new culture. A lot of it was to do with the players I was surrounded by and seeing the level they operate at and what they did on a day-to-day basis.
“I also got to experience, I don’t know how to describe it, a completely different way of doing things at Wolfsburg. It felt like they were a bit ahead of the time, of the WSL, but now other teams have caught up.
“I didn’t play as much when I was in Germany. I was sitting behind who I consider the best goalkeeper in the world at the time, Almuth Schult. I played here and there and I would top up my minutes with England’s Under-23s and things like that.
“Don’t get me wrong, I got a number of games in the first team and loved it, but it wasn’t the consistent playing time I would have enjoyed. I knew that when I was going there though, it was about growth and it was about staying there for a year and maxing out and seeing what happened.
“That gave me some time to think because I wasn’t playing every week. It gave me time to do other things and figure things out. I had no idea it would be so important. I brought that back with me. Playing for United consistently I was able to almost make conscious choices. I had a whole time to reflect for the first time in my career about who I wanted to be, it felt like I became a real adult.”
Her second adventure abroad, at PSG, is where she believes she can reach the next level. “I don’t feel I’ve hit my maximum potential yet so it’s this constant thing of trying to push and get there,” says Earps. She says her understanding of French is improving but jokes that it takes “five to 10 days” to formulate a reply.
In the rebranded Première Ligue, PSG are top after five wins in five games, two points clear of perennial rivals Lyon. Though pleased with how the season has started, Earps urges caution. “It’s really early. No one’s getting carried away with being top of the league,” she says. “We play Lyon as soon as we get back, but it’s a really positive start. Especially after the disappointment of going out of the Champions League. It’s nice to win five games out of five but we’re not satisfied with how we’re playing.”
At the moment she is with England, who have friendlies against Germany on Friday and South Africa on Tuesday as the buildup to Euro 2025 continues. Earps’s starting position is far from secure, with Hannah Hampton ready to capitalise on any opportunity given to her.
Earps is not perturbed by young goalkeepers challenging her. She likes that this generation has been given more opportunities from an early age. “I didn’t turn professional until 23 so I didn’t get regular goalkeeping training,” she says. “Even when I was at Reading, that was my first pro contract, there was periods where there wasn’t a goalkeeper coach or the goalkeeper coach can only come in at certain times in a week.
“We didn’t train every day either. I always say I’m in a beautiful position where I’ve been able to see the growth of the game, I’ve had the benefit of what the people before me did and the goalkeepers now have the benefit of what I’m doing and what my generation has done. It’s really nice to see the younger goalkeepers getting the opportunities I didn’t get when I was younger.”
