Mary Earps: England goalkeeper on life at Paris St-Germain

Since joining PSG, Earps has established herself as the first-choice goalkeeper with 12 appearances in the club’s 14 Premiere Ligue matches.

They are third in the league, eight points off leaders Lyon, but were knocked out in the second round of qualifying for the Champions League.

PSG’s goalkeeping coach Mickael Grondin has praised Earps’ intuition and focus.

“I think Mary’s personality is like sunshine. She is full of the joys of life and that’s important to me,” Grondin says.

“She has an instinct about what her opponent is going to do. You can’t teach that. Very few goalkeepers, and I’m including the men in this, have that intuition.

“She’s someone who likes working hard. She pays attention to every moment, both on the pitch and off it.”

Earps, who this month is on England duty for Nations League games against Portugal and Spain, is enjoying the different philosophy in the French top division.

“There are a few things we have identified, like positioning, some different technical aspects of my game, and also a few tactical things as well,” she says.

“I’ve got quite a free role on the ball at the moment, which I’m really enjoying.”

However, the language barrier has proved a challenge for the Nottingham-born goalkeeper, who says she has a good understanding of French but jokes that it takes her “five to 10 working days” to respond to team-mates.

“That’s probably been the biggest challenge so far – trying to get on the same page in the exact moment when the English and the French doesn’t quite mix,” she says.

“If you’re in a stadium full of people, plus the language, plus the timing, that just adds a whole new level of complication.”