Mary Earps Joins London City Lionesses: A New Chapter Begins
Mary Earps is coming home – and she is not easing herself back in.
The former England No 1 has signed a two-year deal with London City Lionesses after leaving Paris St-Germain, a statement of intent from a club determined to crash the established order of the Women’s Super League.
At 33, with a packed medal cabinet and a mural outside Old Trafford, Earps could have chosen comfort. Instead, she has walked straight into a project built on ambition and expectation.
“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 move that feels as much ideological as it is footballing. The fit, in her mind, is clear. “The club's values represent what I want to represent and they are passionate about what I want to achieve.”
A serial winner joins a rising force
Earps arrives from PSG on the back of another strong season in France. Twenty-two appearances in the Première Ligue, 12 clean sheets, and a third-place finish, 13 points behind champions Lyon. Not a perfect campaign, but more evidence of a goalkeeper who has spent the last five years operating at the very top of the game.
Her reputation was forged in England colours. Twice named The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper, she was a central figure in England’s Euro 2022 triumph and their run to the 2023 World Cup final. Those summers changed her status. From reliable No 1 to one of the faces of the sport.
At club level, her five-year spell at Manchester United brought more than 100 appearances and a landmark trophy: the Women’s FA Cup in 2024, the first major silverware in the club’s history. United’s relationship with Earps has not always been straightforward, especially after the release of her book in November, which sparked weeks of debate and headlines. But the bond clearly runs deep. When she returned to Old Trafford with PSG in the Women’s Champions League earlier this season, home fans rose to applaud her at full-time. Outside, the mural of Earps remains, a permanent reminder of her impact.
Her international retirement in 2025 might have suggested a gentle wind-down. This move says the opposite.
“I feel I still have so much left to give to the game and that's exactly why I chose London City,” she said. This is not a farewell tour. It is a new chapter.
London City raise the stakes
For London City Lionesses, this is more than a smart signing. It is a declaration.
Backed by wealthy American businesswoman Michele Kang, the club finished sixth in their first WSL season in 2025-26 – a mid-table placing on paper, but a serious achievement for a newcomer. Now they are accelerating.
Earps is the headline arrival, but she is not expected to be the only one. The club are set to bring in Spain defender Mapi León and remain in talks with two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas after her departure from Barcelona. These are not speculative punts. These are elite names, the kind that instantly alter dressing-room standards and opposition game plans.
Earps has been impressed by the scale of the vision.
“The vision and ambition, including the new training facility, is incredible and I'm looking forward to seeing that develop,” she said. “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 line – “putting a marker down” – cuts to the heart of what London City are trying to do. The WSL has long been shaped by the heavyweight budgets and deep squads of clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City. London City are not content to make up the numbers beneath them.
No illusions about the challenge
Earps knows the terrain she is stepping back into. The WSL she left has only grown sharper.
“It won't be easy – the WSL is extremely competitive,” she said. “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.”
She will be expected to do more than save shots. Her presence alone changes the psychology of a back line, and of opponents. A two-time FIFA Best, a European champion, a World Cup finalist – that kind of résumé carries weight in tight moments, in hostile away grounds, in the final minutes of games that decide whether a club belongs in the top half or the title race.
London City are betting that Earps, even after stepping away from international duty, still has seasons of elite performance ahead of her. Earps is betting that this ambitious, fast-rising club is the right stage on which to prove it.
The mural at Old Trafford celebrates what she has already done. The question now is what she is about to build in London – and how quickly the rest of the WSL will be forced to take notice.
