Tyrick Mitchell enjoying standout season for Crystal Palace as England monitor full-back closely
Tyrick Mitchell is still yet to make his 50th senior career appearance but is turning heads with his performances so far in south London this season
Tyrick Mitchell is having an unbelievable season at Crystal Palace this year and yet there are still a fair few people who will have no idea who he is.
The 22-year-old rose through the ranks of the Eagles' academy and burst onto the scene last season under Roy Hodgson as an alternative to Patrick van Aanholt at left-back.
By the summer of 2021, and with Van Aanholt moved on, Mitchell had done enough to prove to the club that they didn't need to sign another full-back and started the new campaign as new manager Patrick Vieira 's first-choice left-back.
Since then Mitchell hasn't missed a single game and has played more Premier League minutes (1,791) than any of his teammates this season, only taking a breather in the final moments of Palace's Boxing Day clash against Spurs.
READ MORE: Crystal Palace ready to make first signing of January transfer window with defender targetedREAD MORE: Marc Guehi reveals what Crystal Palace must do next after 'difficult' West Ham defeatWhile Conor Gallagher has taken most of the plaudits this season for his eye-catching displays from midfield, most Eagles fans will recognise Mitchell as one of the players putting in regular consistent performances against the league's best wide men.
So far this season only Brentford's Christian Norgaard has made more tackles than Mitchell (64) in the Premier League, while Everton's Allan (405) and Palace teammate Gallagher (384) are the only players to have made more pressures of the ball than him too (379) - all of them central midfielders.
He also has the sixth-most interceptions in the division (46) while only four players have a greater percentage of dribblers tackled (66.7%) than the 22-year-old.
Of every Crystal Palace player in the squad only Wilfried Zaha (412), Conor Gallagher (346) and Jordan Ayew (327) have touched the ball more times in the attacking third than him (319), while he also has the second-most recoveries (171) of any player in the team.
All this and Mitchell is still yet to play his 50th game as a senior professional.
His performances have caught the eye of the Crystal Palace fans so much that they voted him as their player of the month for November, outshining Christian Benteke and Gallagher to win the award.
He is also starting to provide more of an attacking threat, which can only stand him in good stead for England selection, with Gareth Southgate and his staff said to be monitoring the full-back after his impressive start to the season.
Against Norwich in December, some of that attacking nous that Mitchell will be keen to develop showed itself. Presented with the ball inside his own half and with Palace breaking in numbers, Mitchell provided Odsonne Edouard with a killer pass down the line that allowed the Frenchman to draw in several players before laying the ball off for Jean-Philippe Mateta to score.
The celebrations for that goal took place in the corner flag, but it was Mitchell's excellent pass right in front of his manager that was the most pleasing aspect of the goal.
There is still lots of time for Mitchell to develop this season but Palace fans will be hoping his performances remain under the radar for a while yet, with teams currently unprepared for the battle they'll come up against when facing the Eagles' latest young prospect.