Crystal Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell has capped an impressive season as The Eagles’ first-choice left-back with a call-up to the England senior squad.
Here’s five things you should now about the 22-year-old’s rise from academy graduate to one of the leading full-backs in the Premier League.
Where did he start?
Mitchell joined Palace at the end of the 2015-16 season, having originally started his youth career at Brentford at the age of 16. He left the Bees when they closed their academy and started a B team structure. Mitchell made his senior Crystal Palace debut in the summer of 2020, coming on as a substitute at Leicester in a 3-0 defeat.
Excellent temperament
He worked his way through the Crystal Palace academy and played in the same under-23 side as Manchester United’s Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who signed for £50m from Palace in July 2019.
Mitchell has started every Premier League game this season and not received a single yellow card. A hugely popular figure in the squad, he is liked by those in the backroom team too.
Those in and around the squad have noticed Mitchell’s progression, saying “every game he gets better” and describing his potential as “frightening”. It is an amazing rise for a player who is in his first season as a first choice left-back following the departure of Patrick van Aanholt at the end of the last campaign.
England hopes
He has been named in the men’s senior squad for the first time, having never previously played for England at any level.
He was born in Brent in north London so it would be significant for him to play at Wembley as it is so close to where he grew up.
Catching the eye
Mitchell’s impressive form has predictably caught the eye of scouts from other clubs – BBC Sport understands he is being monitored by one of the leading clubs in the Premier League.
Mitchell was part of a defence that kept a clean sheet at Wolves in a 2-0 win – and against champions Manchester City, earning praise for the way he dealt with winger Riyad Mahrez.
Palace manager Patrick Vieira has said that for Mitchell to be in discussions to join England squads shows how far he has come – and the French World Cup winner is “going to challenge him even more to keep improving”.
His mum calls him after every game
Mitchell showed promise from an early age and has a small support network to thank for helping him reach the top.
He had a trial at Watford Under-10s but wasn’t turning up because he “didn’t really take football that serious back then”. That is according to Abdi Farah, a local coach who helped support Mitchell and kept him on track.
Farah told Palace TV: “Watford were quite keen, but he just wasn’t turning up. So they were like, ‘Abdi this is one that you need to put your arm around and you know, try to make sure he stays in the game’.
“And he was just a class above everyone. He had everything, technique, athleticism, he had that desire. You couldn’t get a word out of him at that age so we just thought ‘no problem’, because my background is in youth work. You just have to give them their own time in their space and treat them as an individual.”
Mitchell’s father was absent throughout his childhood, but speaking about the support of his mother, he said: “She’s proud, every time we play a match she calls me straight away telling me how I’ve done.
“She’s a football fan, but not like a hardcore one. But I can see that she’s trying to understand it and the other teams because I’m out there.”
