Mary Earps ready to do the business in Euros final thanks to De Gea dealings

Shortly after the final whistle at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night, Mary Earps received a congratulatory message from David de Gea.

England had just crushed Sweden 4-0 to reach the final of Euro 2022 but that scoreline could have been very different had Sarina Wiegman’s goalkeeper not contributed some superlative-defying early saves.

Although Earps and her men’s counterpart at Manchester United do not train together they are mutually supportive and remain in regular touch. “David’s just messaged me saying congratulations,” she reported, beaming at suggestions that her first save, made with an outstretched left leg to deny Sofia Jakobsson inside the opening 30 seconds, seemed straight out of the De Gea playbook.

“I’ll take that comparison, no problem at all,” said the 29-year-old, who is unafraid to pick the Spain goalkeeper’s brains. “Me and David speak a little bit. We message back and forth about results and clean sheets and stuff. At Manchester United he’s really supportive of the women’s game; it’s always nice to have his backing.”

Earps has come an awful long way in the 10 years since she was juggling low-paid, part-time jobs in order to make the petrol money needed to drive to training at Doncaster Belles.

A decade ago, the Nottingham-born keeper never believed she would earn a full-time living from football and, envisaging a career in commerce, completed an information management and business studies degree at Loughborough University.

Although football remains very much her first love, business fascinates her and during lockdown she persuaded United to allow her to embark on a special course in entrepreneurship. She also brushed up on German, having acquired some when she was reserve goalkeeper at Wolfsburg during