20 December 2023 , 17:00
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BBC Sports Personality of the Year winner Mary Earps has admitted it's been hard to "sit quietly" in regards to the growing uncertainty over her future at Manchester United.
Earps was magnanimous in the aftermath of her victory on Tuesday night, arguing any of the leading contenders could have prevailed which according to the Lionesses hero, "shows how magical sport is." She follows 2022 winner Beth Mead in becoming the only the second female footballer to take first place, but now the 30-year-old wants to lift silverware on the field again as well as off it.
Outlining her ambition to "win the lot," World Cup redemption inevitably features high on her list of priorities after the final heartbreak against Spain this year. But Earps, 30, also specifically mentioned Champions League glory, but refused to commit whether she would continue to chase that dream at Manchester United.
“It’s a great question," she replied, when pressed on the speculation around her club future. "I don’t really want to talk too much about it tonight because I want to celebrate this win but what I will say is there is a lot of stuff that’s been put out there that isn’t true. I’ve remained quiet for a reason. I feel I’ve behaved really professional and with a lot of integrity through this whole situation."
Earps has been heavily linked with a move to United's WSL rivals at Arsenal, but insists her current commitment to Marc Skinner's side remains full-blooded. And she vowed to continue to be professional regardless of transfer rumours.
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"A lot of stuff that’s been put out isn’t true," she continued. "I want to say more but I can’t at this stage and it’s really hard for me to sit quietly when I see a lot of things that are not right. I think it’s an injustice but I know the appropriate thing to do is focus on my football and see what happens from there.”
Mary Earps after being crowned BBC Sports Personality of he Year (PA)HAVE YOUR SAY! Should Mary Earps stay at Manchester United? Comment below.
The public backing for Earps should have surprised no-one, given the furore over Nike's initial decision not to sell her long-sleeved keeper top during the World Cup tournament in Australia last summer. Forced to reverse that decision amid mounting pressure, the retail giants duly started sales, only to be sold-out within minutes.
Earps initially called the decision as "injustice," but harbours no bitterness, admitting she's since received assurances from Nike that such a mishap will never happen again: “I’m just happy that it was sold. Hopefully as many people got what they wanted but it was more about the principle than anything."
Asked if she'd have like to have seen more shirts sold, she replied: "Of course. I think the reality is there was none. There was never a thought of any prior to what we achieved in the last 12 months. It’s been a long, work in progress with all of our voices and the public have got behind me. Now it’s a conversation of ‘OK, how many?’ And that’s a very different conversation to what it was before.”
Despite her rise to prominence in the sporting world, Earps reacted when amusement when asked if she had been offered a 'Michael Jordan style deal', reference to multi-million contracts he regularly signed with Nike during his own iconic career. “Oh absolutely not, no!" she said. "But for me it’s the principle of making people happy and the messaging that was being sent out was really damaging. Now you don’t have that. People can be whatever they want to be. Representation and visibility is so important."