1 Manchester United are set to lose women's goalkeeper Mary Earps with the England international considering an "attractive offer from Paris Saint-Germain", according to a report by The Athletic.
The report reveals that while United have offered the 31-year-old "improved terms" in a bid to keep her from departing Old Trafford, Earps' focus instead is on "compet[ing] for trophies at this stage in her career."
#MUWFC expect Mary Earps to leave. PSG have made attractive offer for #Lionesses GK. Finance not a priority, Utd have offered Earps better package. She wants to compete for trophies.
Earps has decision to make. 1st reported @le_Parisien@TheAthleticFC https://t.co/osdY8bhWCP
- Charlotte Harpur (@charlotteharpur) June 25, 2024
The goalkeeper's contract is set to expire on June 30 with talks over a renewal having begun as far back as the summer of 2022, after Earps' triumph with the Three Lions at the European Championship in England.
Sources at Old Trafford contend their contract proposal is a "strong offer" and represents a "better package overall" than the one from the French club, but there is growing acceptance at the club that Earps will "leave at the end of the month."
Last summer, United turned down a world-record bid for the 31-year-old from Arsenal, who sought to bring Earps to London as the Women's Super League transfer window came to a close, on September 14.
Now, it appears, she is ready to trade Manchester for another of Europe's leading capitals in Paris.
Fans of United Women's team would be forgiven for their dismay at the potential loss of a world-class player from a team seeking to build on last season's FA Cup success. And these feelings will likely have been exacerbated by Sir Jim Ratcliffe's comments in a wide-ranging interview earlier this week.
Ratcliffe - who gained full control over the sporting operation at Old Trafford (including the women's team) February following ratification of his co-ownership bid was approved by the Premier League - was asked by Bloomberg whether United would seek external investment to improve the women's team, in similar fashion to Chelsea have done.
His response was nothing short of disappointing.
"We haven't got into that level of detail with the women's team yet. We've been pretty much focused on how we resolve the first-team issues in that environment and that's been pretty full-time for the first six months," the British billionaire replied.
It follows a pattern of sentiment towards the women's team emerging at Old Trafford in the early period of the INEOS revolution.
Following the team's FA Cup success, which saw manager Mike Skinner awarded a contract extension, INEOS decided to cancel the club's awards evening, to instead focus on the men's upcoming FA Cup final against Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
This move deprived the women's squad of the chance to be recognised for their triumph, at the cost of a marginal gain for the men's team.
It's little wonder, therefore, that Earps is seeking a new club to continue her streak of personal success in the later stage of her illustrious career, given there appears little appetite amongst her new employers to ensure her team are given all the resources and recognition they deserve.
Darragh Fox Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.