Mary Earps: ‘I find it hard to believe where I am now. It has been a rollercoaster’

Mary Earps is reflecting on the last couple of years. “Incredible is one way of putting it. Unexpected. Absolute rollercoaster,” she says. “I never could have imagined a tenth of what has happened. I am just grateful for it all and trying to take it in my stride.”

The latest thing for the world’s best women’s goalkeeper to take in her stride is a high-profile move to Paris Saint-Germain after her contract expired with Manchester United.

It was a “very big decision” and Earps is relieved that the speculation over her future – United turned down a world-record bid from Arsenal last year but could not persuade her to sign a new contract despite extensive talks – has finally ended.

“It has been really, really challenging to have this thing… I don’t know it has been a big cloud for a long time,” she says in an exclusive interview with Telegraph Sport. “I have tried to not let it be a distraction, to not let it bother me with people saying certain things. It always seemed to be a talking point whatever I did. Now I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

Nevertheless it does add to the profile of the 31-year-old European Championship-winning, penalty-saving World Cup finalist who is also a social media sensation with more than one million TikTok followers and a big personality. ‘Mary Queen of Stops’ is England’s most recognisable women’s footballer, who was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2023.

“I am not a celebrity!” Earps protests and there is an admirable honesty as she discusses how she has gone from being dropped in 2020 and spending two years in international exile when she considered packing it all in, to where she is now and how recognised and successful she has become.

“How is it? It’s hard to put into words really. I find it difficult. I thought I would enjoy it more than I do and I don’t mean that in any sort of negative way,” Earps explains.

“It is overwhelming sometimes. I really care. I really care about the fans and wanting them to feel like they are welcome to be themselves and have a place if they found love in women’s sport and women’s football. I love that.

“But what I do find difficult is that when it’s unexpected, or someone creeps up on your shoulder, or if you are thinking about something and then somebody’s there.

“Sometimes I feel bad and think: “Did I speak to that person enough? Did I interact with them enough?’ That bit I find hard. It’s hard to always be on your A-game. But I feel a big responsibility.”

Tiredness is possibly a factor in Earps’ candour. It has been a whirlwind few days for the 31-year-old. She has left United, agreed to join PSG, flown to see her godson in Frankfurt, then on to Paris and finally travelled to the Netherlands to meet up with the England squad as they prepare for their decisive Euro 2025 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland and Sweden. She will continue her rehab after suffering a hip injury against France.

The BBC award did change things, though. “It definitely made it more than women’s football with wider, different conversations,” Earps says and she enjoys that transition. “It’s been unbelievable really and still doesn’t really register. I just think it’s going to go in a minute. It will just go back to normal but it seems to be carrying on and long may it continue.

‘Is this the end of the good times?’

“I find it hard to believe where I am now from where I was back then [in 2020]. It still doesn’t quite compute but apart from knowing that magic and mad things can happen and that’s why I feel so strongly about being honest and being myself when it’s ugly or whatever.

“It’s not always easy to do. I am not saying I am perfect or a perfect person or anything. It’s just more when I know what you can go from and to and you have absolutely no idea what’s around the corner, and someone else could be going through that. To me that is just so powerful.”

“The last year has not been the easiest, it has been really challenging and I find myself asking: What am I doing? Is this the end of the good times? Is this the best it is going to get?’ Earps says. “When you are not sure what’s coming and you feel down or low and there has been a lot of speculation about things over the last year which I have struggled with at different times.

“And then you have to just keep going and keep pushing, really. That I find is a real point of inspiration for myself from how bad it really, really was to how lucky I am and the incredible times I have had since. You know what, who knows what’s around the corner? I just keep going.”

On Saturday Earps posted a heartfelt and poignant Instagram post to mark her departure from United, after five years at the club. In it she wrote about how United were “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”.

For United fans that set alarm bells ringing with captain Katie Zelem and forward Luía García also leaving and concerns over the direction the women’s team is being taken under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and whether it is a priority for him. Not least because they will have to use portable buildings at the training ground while their facilities are taken over by the men’s side during a £50 million revamp at Carrington.

The sense of not being so important was also not helped when Ratcliffe gave an interview admitting Ineos had not looked into the way the women’s team were being run as they were concentrating on the men. In losing Earps, United have lost their most valuable asset from the women’s team and on a free transfer.

“I obviously don’t want to go too much into the conversations I had with them [United]. That’s where the conversations have to end,” Earps says.

“I think my Instagram post was, it’s been a really emotional day to be honest… I was just, like, it’s sad to go from United as that was my home for five years and it is emotional to leave.

“Putting those words down on a page, it’s so hard to write it down. I think what I tried to do was say my honest truth in a way without diving into any real depth and try and pay my respects and express my gratitude.

“The reality is that when I joined the club in 2019 we embarked on a three- to five-year plan and some of the things we’ve achieved in that time and some of the things we’ve come up short with.

“Now the club are going to start a new three- to five-year plan. I’m 31 years old and I had to make a decision that was going to continue to challenge me in the short-term and the long-term.”

And what about the treatment of the women’s team?

“I’d rather not get into that because I have friends and team-mates there who I have literally just left,” Earps says. “I know there are a lot of things that are being said about the club and I do think, in time, the club will be brilliant. I have said that from the get-go when I joined the club. I said Man Utd have massive potential.”

‘PSG are serious about being the best team in Europe, the best in the world’

So do PSG. Which is why Earps has joined the ambitious French giants.

“For me, it was about the vision,’ she says. “Obviously I’ve been talking to the club a fair bit now and the more I was hearing the more convinced I was about how serious they are about wanting to be the best team in Europe, the best team in the world.”

A dream is to win the Champions League with PSG reaching the semi-finals last season.

“I can play it cool and say: ‘We’ll see.’ But I want to win as many trophies as possible and the Champions League is as prestige as it gets, right? I would absolutely love to have that one,” Earps says.

This is not the first time she has played abroad – having had a season in Germany with Wolfsburg from 2018 before joining United – but given her standing in the game, where she is at with her career, and her age, this is far bigger and different and Earps fully intends to “immerse” herself in the club and in Paris. Above all, though, it is about winning trophies.

Which brings us, finally, to a word of advice from a Lionesses winner and a national hero to the England’s men team who have a Euros quarter-final against Switzerland to prepare for and whose fans are underwhelmed by their performances so far.

“It’s a world of public opinion and that pressure to deliver and perform is a privilege,” Earps says. “I don’t know where that quote comes from but there is an expectation that you can deliver a really high level of performance. People think you are fantastic players and of course sometimes it can be difficult to deal with but the reality is that is what comes with having great talent in your team.

“As England there is always pressure. That is always how it is. Before the Euros we won [in 2022] there was always talk about England winning a tournament. It kind of comes with the territory. It’s sometimes not nice but I know the boys will be good.”