Earps hits out at speculation over Man Utd future

Manchester United goalkeeper Mary Earps has expressed her frustration at untrue speculation regarding her future.

The 30-year-old capped an incredible 2023 by being voted the Sports Personality of the Year on Tuesday night.

She helped England reach the World Cup final and saved a penalty in the showpiece match. 

The Lionesses were beaten 1-0 but Earps was voted Goalkeeper of the Tournament and was also named the best in her position in the world for 2022.

She also kept 14 clean sheets as United finished second in the Women's Super League and was quick to dispute rumours linking her with a move away this summer.

She said: "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 professionally and with a lot of integrity through this whole situation.

"I want to say more but I can't at this stage.

"It's really hard for me to sit quiet 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."

Earps’ BBC award also came in the same year that she successfully challenged Nike to produce replicas of her England goalkeeper jersey.

And she hopes that other brands will soon follow suit.

She said: "I'd like to think so. I’ve obviously had that commitment from Nike.

"For me it's the principle of making people happy and the messaging that was being sent out was really damaging.

"Representation and visibility is so important. The fact that young girls and adults can have access to them. 

"People might be complaining now that there’s not enough but I'll absolutely take that complaint over there being none."