Man City and Chelsea in transfer battle for Tyrick Mitchell after Crystal Palace star’s fine form led to England call-up
MANCHESTER CITY are monitoring the progress of England newbie Tyrick Mitchell.
The left-back, 22, has had a stellar season at Crystal Palace and was rewarded by a late call-up to Gareth Southgate’s senior side on Monday as a replacement for the injured Reece James.
He has missed just EIGHT minutes of Premier League action since May last year and is second only to Brentford’s Christian Norgaard for most top-flight tackles this term.
City are in the market for a new left-back and are keeping track of the youngster’s progress, as are Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham.
Mitchell is understood to be loving life under Patrick Vieira, who has guided the Eagles to relative safety and the FA Cup semi-finals in his maiden season in charge at Selhurst Park.
Palace would be loathed to lose their academy product and have proved to be tough sellers in the past, such as when they convinced Manchester United to part with £50million for Aaron Wan-Bissaka in 2019.
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Speaking on his senior call-up, Mitchell said: “It’s a dream come true. I never thought it would happen so quick.
“I’m over the moon. I found out on Monday, I got the text and I was lost for words.
“I was waiting for it to be announced and then I told (my mum). That’s one of her dreams to see me play at Wembley.”
Mitchell made his Eagles debut in lockdown in 2020 and did not actually play in front of fans until the curtain-raiser at Chelsea last August.
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It allowed him to iron out any positional mistakes, particularly a habit of being caught on his inside shoulder, without any supporters getting on his back.
Palace showed faith in Mitchell this summer by not signing a replacement for the outgoing Patrick van Aanholt.
‘T’, as the Eagles dressing room call him, has repaid it by claiming the best record for one-to-one defensive actions in the Premier League and forging an exciting partnership down the left with fellow academy graduate Wilfried Zaha.