Mary Earps issues damning INEOS statement as she leaves Manchester United for free

Manchester United women’s goalkeeper has issued a damning statement on INEOS as she departs Old Trafford on a free transfer this summer.

At the beginning of 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe took over Manchester United as a new co-owner of the club with a 27.7% acquisition, and his company, INEOS, was granted full control of the football operations across both the men’s and women’s teams.

However, they have already faced significant criticism for their lack of focus on women’s football, with Ratcliffe particularly scathed for his reference to the men’s team as the “first team.”

Read More: Roy Keane admits he’s apologised to Man United star, it’s an important message

“Well, they’ve just won the FA Cup,” responded United’s new co-owner when asked about his plans for the women’s team. “We haven’t gone into that level of detail with the women’s football team yet.

“We’ve been pretty much focused on how do we resolve the first-team issues in that environment, and that’s been pretty full-time for the first six months.”

Then, when asked whether the plans for the female side of the club are TBC, he said, “Correct”.

Following this, the club have confirmed that goalkeeper Mary Earps, a strong figure and leader, will leave the club for free to join Paris St. Germain.

In a statement from the player, she seems to criticise INEOS for not aligning with the current vision of her career, which will no doubt be winning further trophies.

“I have decided that it’s time for a new challenge,” Earps stated. “It’s a decision l’ve gone backwards and forwards on for some time, and is not one l’ve made lightly.

“The club is about to undergo a period of transition, and unfortunately I don’t feel it aligns with the timing of where l’m at in my career. Therefore I think now is the right time to make a change and embark on a new challenge.”

This comes after a new report from The Guardian revealed that the women’s team will be moved into portable buildings at Carrington this coming season. This would allow the men’s team to use their building while the men’s indoor facilities are being revamped.

Further, it was said that the club considered “a wide range of options” for where to house the women’s department for next season and concluded that the women’s team staying at Carrington and using the pitches there was preferable to relocating them to a different site where the quality of the training pitches, fitness, and nutrition facilities would not have been as high.

However, since this report was published, it has been explained that there is “growing discontent” within the women’s squad, and the Professional Footballers’ Association are ready to seek conversations with those at United after being made aware of the situation.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.