You don’t often see a football club completely shut down their academy.
The youth ranks have always been a way for sides to produce their own talent – when they may not be able to afford imports from elsewhere – with Crystal Palace in particular taking full advantage over the years, churning out the likes of Wilfried Zaha, Victor Moses and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, to name a few.
However – back in May 2016 – Brentford opted to close their academy in favour of having a reserve side instead, due to the annual £2m running cost, and also the fact other clubs in London were hoovering up the best prospects.
Consequently, a number of talented youngsters found themselves in limbo, one of them being Tyrick Mitchell.
How Tyrick Mitchell ended up at Crystal Palace
The left-back was not without a club for long after leaving Brentford, as he was offered a place in the development squad by Crystal Palace in July 2016.
Mitchell eventually earned a two-year scholarship deal after just one season, and by 2018, he was a regular starter on the left of defence for the U23 side.
Unfortunately, a few setbacks occurred in 2019.
Mitchell took a significant step towards a senior debut as Roy Hodgson included him on Crystal Palace’s pre-season tour in the summer of 2019, only to suffer a thigh injury which sidelined him for five months.
The man born in Brent then endured a small reoccurrence of that injury, before the COVID-19 pandemic halted football entirely.
However – after the action was resumed – Mitchell was named in all nine Premier League squads to end that 2019/20 campaign, making his Premier League debut for Crystal Palace in a 3-0 defeat against Leicester City in July 2020.
Tyrick Mitchell now a Premier League regular and England international at Crystal Palace
The Londoner’s rise was quite rapid – in truth – as he even went on to make his England debut just a couple of years later in March 2022.
At the time of writing, Mitchell, who Galatasaray want, can boast 146 Premier League appearances for Crystal Palace – 161 in all competitions – and is arguably the first name on Oliver Glasner’s teamsheet nowadays.
There is – however – a problem in terms of Crystal Palace having a lack of depth behind the Englishman.
Glasner asks a lot of Mitchell in that left wing-back role, where he is tasked with not only defending, but providing an attacking outlet too, given the lack of a natural winger ahead of him in the 3-4-3 formation.
Crystal Palace did want cover for Mitchell last summer – taking Ryan Sessegnon on trial – but there is still no rotation option as things stand.
Hopefully, a backup can be found in January, or it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Crystal Palace No.3 suffer an injury soon.
