Mary Earps returned to Manchester United on Wednesday where she received a mixed reception. (Image: James Gill – Danehouse, Getty Images)
Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner has advised Mary Earps to take care of herself following the Red Devils’ 2-1 Champions League win over PSG. The game was Earps’ first return to United after leaving the club in the summer of 2024.
The goalkeeper was initially greeted warmly by the home crowd during her warm-up. However, as the match kicked off, a section of the Old Trafford faithful began to boo the 32-year-old. In response, the majority of the home supporters attempted to counteract the boos with cheers.
The mixed reception comes after Earps faced heavy criticism for her remarks about England’s goalkeeper Hannah Hampton in her new book ‘All In’.
In the book she claimed that Hampton was ‘disruptive and unreliable’ during Euro 2022. She also said that England manager Sarina Wiegman was ‘rewarding bad behaviour’ by recalling her to the England squad.
During his post-match press conference, Skinner revealed what he said to his former player after the match. “I said to her at the end I said, ‘Look after yourself’, because we have already spoken about mental health and how people can be affected,” he explained.
Earps’ comments on her United departure
Earps wrote that she hoped to finish her career at Manchester United. She joined the club from Wolfsburg in 2019, before leaving on a free transfer in 2024.
It seems her issues with the Red Devils leadership stems from their failure to invest properly in the women’s side. After Euro 2022, the club promised to relocate the women’s side to their Carrington base, alongside the men’s squad. However, Earps and her colleagues were only moved into their new women’s and academy building on the campus in the summer of 2023. She said the unfulfilled commitment made the players feel like the announcement had been little more than a “publicity exercise.”
After the 2023 World Cup, in which Earps won the Golden Glove award and England lost in the final, Arsenal reportedly made a bid of £100,000 for her services. United turned down the offer without contacting her. She described the situation as “dizzying”.
Despite receiving an initial contract extension in 2023, the club did not pick up talks with Earps until the end of the 2023/2024 season. Despite tabling a significant offer, she said United were no closer to their goal of winning the Champions League, while the club had also failed to tell her the women would be required to move out of their base to accommodate the men’s side during renovations at Carrington. She would eventually sign a two-year deal with Les Parisiens.
