Mary Earps leaving ‘in-transition’ Manchester United a sign of problems with the running of the women’s team

MANCHESTER – Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps appeared to fire a parting shot at the direction of the club under minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, as pressure builds over the club’s handling of the women’s team.

On June 29, she became the latest high-profile player to leave the Women’s Super League (WSL) side, with the coveted England international saying she could not achieve her career ambitions at a club undergoing “transition”.

The 31-year-old is reportedly close to signing with Paris Saint-Germain after rejecting a new deal.

Since his takeover of football operations at Old Trafford, billionaire businessman Ratcliffe has made it clear that the focus has been on the men’s team. In May, he skipped the team’s Women’s FA Cup final win over Tottenham Hotspur – their first major honour – to catch the men’s side play Arsenal.

Asked by Bloomberg about the plans for the women’s team, he said earlier in June: “We haven’t gone into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet. We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues, in that environment, and that’s been pretty full time for the first six months.”

This is despite him writing, in response to questions about his ambitions for the women’s side, in February that “if it’s a team wearing a Manchester United badge on the shirt, then it’s Manchester United and they need to be focused on winning and being successful.”

However, Earps, in a farewell post on Instagram, wrote: “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, therefore I think now is the right time to make a change and embark on a new challenge.”

During the 2022-23 WSL season, Euro 2022 winner Earps kept 14 clean sheets to set a new league record, and a few months later finished fifth in the voting for the Ballon d’Or Feminin – the highest placing achieved by a goalkeeper.

Her exit comes just two days after that of United club captain Katie Zelem, with the Old Trafford hierarchy having previously announced the departure of striker Lucia Garcia. Nikita Parris looks set to follow suit.

After a 2022-23 season which saw the club reach their first major cup final and record its best WSL finish of runners-up, they lost star players Alessia Russo and Ona Batlle. They fell off the pace in 2023-24, finishing fifth in the 12-team competition.

The Athletic reported that the Red Devils had agreed a deal for star striker Russo, but then reneged on several conditions, causing it to collapse.

It added that “poor communication from those in charge regarding budget and strategy for contract renewals, signings and transfer fees are said to have delayed negotiations and led to United missing out on players”.

The women’s team moved into a new £10 million (S$17.2 million) training facility in 2023.

Last week, it emerged that the men’s side are set to use that venue while their own Carrington training base is undergoing renovation, leaving the women’s team to relocate to portable cabins.

Former England Under-21 and Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha told the Off The Ball show: “If they are buying into Manchester United, then you’d think they’d be involved in every aspect of that but from when this separation is here and it seems so clear, those who have an interest in the women’s team, they’ve got every right to be frustrated... When we look at the men’s team, it feels like they are trying to sell us this vision that the future is going to be very bright, so why could it not be the same for the women?”

The Athletic has since reported that the Professional Footballers’ Association is now seeking talks with United “after being made aware of growing discontent regarding the club’s management of their women’s team”. AFP, REUTERS