Mary Earps Joins London City Lionesses: A Bold Move in Women's Football

Mary Earps is coming home. Not to Old Trafford this time, but to a club intent on crashing English football’s established order.

The former England No 1 has signed a two-year deal with London City Lionesses after leaving Paris St-Germain, a move that underlines both her own unfinished business and the scale of the Lionesses’ ambition.

At 33, Earps could easily have chosen comfort. She has nothing left to prove to anyone: two-time Fifa Best Goalkeeper of the Year, a European champion with England in 2022, central to the run to the 2023 World Cup final, and a key figure in Manchester United’s first major women’s trophy, the 2024 FA Cup.

Instead, she has picked a project.

“I feel the club aligns with what I stand for. I can't wait to get started and to get down to business,” she said, outlining a decision that feels as much about identity as it does about football.

A statement signing for a restless club

London City Lionesses, backed by American businesswoman Michele Kang, finished sixth in their debut Women’s Super League campaign in 2025-26. Respectable. Impressive, even. But not enough for a club that has made no secret of its desire to move quickly from plucky newcomers to genuine contenders.

The recruitment drive tells its own story. Earps is not arriving alone in the spotlight. The club are set to sign Spain defender Mapi Leon and remain in talks with two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas after her Barcelona exit. These are not speculative punts. They are top-tier names, players accustomed to title races and Champions League knockout nights.

For a side only one season into WSL life, this is a bold escalation.

Earps slots into that picture as both anchor and standard-bearer. Her presence alone raises expectations in the dressing room. Her track record demands it.

Leaving Paris on a high

Her decision comes off the back of a strong season in France. Earps made 22 league appearances for PSG in the Première Ligue this term, keeping 12 clean sheets as they finished third, 13 points behind champions Lyon.

It was a solid body of work in a league where the margins for goalkeepers are thin and the scrutiny is constant. Yet when her contract expired after two seasons, she chose not to extend. The pull of a new challenge – and a return to England – proved stronger.

“The club's values represent what I want to represent and they are passionate about what I want to achieve,” she explained. “All the conversations have been really positive and every time I spoke with the club I wanted to hear more.”

Those talks clearly went beyond wages and minutes. Earps spoke with particular enthusiasm about the Lionesses’ infrastructure plans.

“The vision and ambition, including the new training facility, is incredible and I'm looking forward to seeing that develop. It shows what our owner Michele [Kang] and everyone at the club want to do in terms of really going for it. It's about putting a marker down and saying we want to be competitive in a short space of time.”

That phrase – “putting a marker down” – could double as the club’s slogan for this window.

A legacy that still follows her

Earps’ return to the English game comes with a legacy already carved into its modern history.

Her performances for England at Euro 2022 and the 2023 World Cup helped elevate the profile of goalkeeping in the women’s game, turning her into one of the country’s most recognised and influential players. She became a reference point not just for shot-stopping, but for leadership and presence.

Her club career reached a high point at Manchester United, where she spent five years, made more than 100 appearances and helped deliver that first major trophy in 2024. Outside Old Trafford, a mural celebrates her spell at the club – a rare honour that underlines the impact she made.

Even after her international retirement in 2025, the connection has remained. When she returned to Old Trafford earlier this season with PSG in the Women’s Champions League, home fans gave her a warm applause at full-time. It was a reminder that, despite the controversy around her book released in November – a release that dominated headlines for weeks – respect for her achievements has endured.

Now, that same aura walks into a new WSL dressing room.

A fierce league, a familiar edge

Earps is under no illusions about the scale of the task facing London City.

“I feel I still have so much left to give to the game and that's exactly why I chose London City,” she said. “It won't be easy – the WSL is extremely competitive. The team had a brilliant 2025-26 season finishing mid-table in their first season, now it's about climbing the table and working towards finishing as high as possible.”

That competitiveness is precisely what makes this move intriguing. Earps is stepping into a league where the established powers – Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, and increasingly her former club United – are not in the habit of making room for newcomers.

But this is where her career has often thrived: in the gap between expectation and reality, where someone has to force the change.

London City are betting that the goalkeeper who has already helped rewrite one chapter of English women’s football can help them author another. The question now is not whether Mary Earps has more to give.

It is how far this partnership can push the WSL’s old order before they are forced to take the Lionesses seriously.