Life is moving fast for Crystal Palace and England left-back Tyrick Mitchell.

Less than two years on from his Eagles debut, the 22-year-old was given his senior England bow off the bench against Switzerland last Saturday and could start against Ivory Coast tonight. 

His route to the top has been far from conventional but now he is mixing it with the world’s best, the Londoner could not look more at home. 

With Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle all linked in recent weeks, we assess how Mitchell has become hot property so quickly and whether a summer move is on the cards.

Humble beginnings

While some players burst on to the scene with plenty of hype surrounding them, Mitchell’s emergence has been fittingly understated.

Growing up in Harrow with finances tight and opportunities limited, football was never a priority for him as a young child — merely a hobby he enjoyed with friends.

Yet Abdi Farah, a local coach at amateur club AFC Wembley who became a mentor to Mitchell in his formative years, says his talent was always apparent.

"When he played football, it was a great escape for him," Farah explained. "But you could see from a young age he really wanted to better his life. He was way more mature than the other boys.

"You could see it from day one that he was going to go far. He just needed a lot of support."

Mitchell began to excel in Brentford’s youth setup between 2012 and 2016 before the Bees surprisingly shut down their academy — allowing Palace to swoop.

Keys to the Palace

Having continued to impress in Palace’s development squads, ex-England boss Roy Hodgson gave Mitchell his first-team debut in July 2020 — and he has not looked back since.

Initially competing with experienced Dutch left-back Patrick van Aanholt for a starting berth, Mitchell’s 19 Premier League appearances in 2020-21 saw him improve rapidly.

And when both Hodgson and Van Aanholt departed South London at the end of last term, new boss Patrick Vieira wasted little time making Mitchell one of the first names on his team sheet.

Remarkably, the left-back has started all 29 of the Eagles’ top-flight matches since the Frenchman took charge and has shown himself to be as talented as he is dependable.

A full-back who loves to defend is a rare commodity in modern football, but Mitchell is exactly that. 

Of all Premier League left-backs this term, only Kieran Tierney commits less fouls per 90 minutes — yet Mitchell makes 3.11 tackles per game compared to the Arsenal man’s 0.84.

Vieira's men take on the Gunners on Monday night in their return to Premier League action, with Mitchell also having an eye on a return to Wembley later in the month for the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.

Surprise call-up

Despite that seamless transition into first-team football, few could have anticipated an England opportunity would present itself to Mitchell so quickly.

But Three Lions boss Southgate, an ex-Palace player himself who had already selected Eagles duo Marc Guehi and Conor Gallagher for this month’s friendlies, clearly likes what he sees.

With Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell still a long-term absentee through injury, Mitchell was given a late call-up to compete with Luke Shaw last week and found himself playing half an hour for his country against Switzerland a few days later.

Mitchell was never selected for his nation at youth level — but Southgate was quick to put him at ease.

The left-back explained: "He [Southgate] told me to enjoy the call-up and that they had seen what I have been doing with my club this season. 

"I am here because of the good things I have done so just be happy, don’t be nervous and just enjoy it. It is a great place to be, it is a great bunch of lads and just to take it all in."

A maiden start against Ivory Coast tonight would be yet another addition to a list of achievements that seems to be growing by the minute. 

Big decisions

While Palace fans are bursting with pride at Mitchell’s call-up, it has only made the task of holding on to him this summer even tougher.

Pep Guardiola is said to be a big fan and the appeal of working under a boss who has such a fine reputation for developing young talent would surely prove appealing.

When discussing his left-back’s England credentials last month, Palace boss Vieira was full of praise — but also had a word of warning.

Vieira said: "For us he is doing well. He’s growing up, believing more in himself when he’s going on the field.

"He knows and is still learning about his strengths and weaknesses, and he of course has some parts of the game he needs to improve to have this international dimension."

Given Mitchell’s background and upbringing, there seems little chance of him making a rash decision for the sake of money.

Perhaps continuing his development under Vieira is the shrewdest move for now, even if more glamorous days await.