According to Football Insider, Manchester United are keeping a close eye on Crystal Palace left-back Tyrick Mitchell ahead of a possible move for his signature next year.
The Red Devils bolstered their midfield department with Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba and Andrey Santos this summer, but were unable to find a quality competitor to Luke Shaw for the left-back position.
Shaw had a fantastic 2025/26 season with Man United. He was injury-free throughout and managed to start every Premier League match for the club, which was a surprise given his worrying injury record.
That has not happened this campaign with the Englishman already missing three matches, and United may seek to address the left-back concern when the transfer window reopens at the turn of the year.
Football Insider now claim that United are keeping a close watch on Mitchell whose contract with Palace expires next summer.
Mitchell’s Premier League experience gives a ‘big tick to his name’ when it comes to United’s requirements, but Palace remain optimistic that their graduate will extend his stay beyond the current campaign.
The Conference League holders are doing everything possible to keep hold of his services.
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Shaw has been with the Red Devils for the past 14 years. However, he has missed over 250 competitive matches with numerous injury concerns and has already been sidelined for three games this campaign.
The 31-year-old’s current deal with the Mancunian giants expires in the summer of 2027 like Mitchell. United are likely to look into the future and there is a possibility that Shaw could be released at the end of the season.
United may ideally want to land two new left-backs, considering Patrick Dorgu is more comfortable as a winger. The Dane has largely played as a wide attacker and was exposed as a left-back against Manchester City this month.
Mitchell would be a fantastic acquisition for Michael Carrick’s side and an upgrade on Shaw in multiple aspects. Mitchell started his career as a left-back but has featured as a left wing-back over the past few seasons at the Eagles.
Despite this, he won almost 3 tackles and 5 recoveries per Premier League game for Palace last term with 4.5 duels won. Shaw, on the other hand, won 2 tackles and 4.4 duels with just 3 recoveries on average for the Red Devils.
Mitchell is defensively better than Shaw. He is in the prime of his career, having just turned 27 and could be signed for a knockdown price as early as January, given Palace may not want to lose him on a free transfer next summer if he does not renew.
The Palace graduate has a Transfermarkt value of £21.4 million. Man City signed Marc Guehi from Palace for just £20m last winter as his contract was expiring in June 2026. United should capitalise on a similar situation to land Mitchell in January.
Mitchell could be seen as a direct competitor to Shaw, who could be replaced by someone else next summer.
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