According to The Evening Standard, Arsenal are interested in Crystal Palace left-back Tyrick Mitchell.

What's the word?

Having excelled for Palace's development squads in the 2017/18 season, Mitchell has really broke onto the scene at Selhurst Park.

In Patrick van Aanholt's absence, Roy Hodgson took a shining to the left-footed defender and was duly rewarded after he made his Premier League debut against Leicester City last year.

The 20-year-old has impressed since the start of this season with a WhoScored rating of 6.58, the ninth-best out of all Palace players and more than than Van Aanholt overall - bettered by the likes of established regular starters Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha.

Arsenal's interest will come as no surprise to Palace fans given their mixed bag of results this season but the potential loss of Mitchell would be a devastating blow for the Eagles boss.

Stand firm

Whilst Wilfried Zaha has been heavily linked with the Selhurst Park exit in recent months, losing a young prospect in Mitchell would arguably be just as significant.

Of course, when the big guns come calling it can prove to be rather difficult to ignore such a tempting offer.

Mitchell's defensive awareness on the left-hand side of the defence will no doubt have piqued the interest of those courting the London-born left-back.

While some modern-day full-backs like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James will look to bring the ball out from the back and bring others into play, Mitchell is prepared to the dirty work, as shown by his willingness to throw himself into a tackle (or two), as he currently averages 3.4 tackles per game in the Premier League this season.

This is also the best of all defenders in the squad and is indeed the highest amount of tackles by any Palace player overall, ahead of the likes of James McArthur, Joel Ward and Nathaniel Clyne.

He also boasts a fine positional awareness, relying his speed, guile and cunning to limit goalscoring opportunities and break up attacks at the back, as evidenced in his 2.9 clearances and 1.1 interceptions per match since the start of the season.

It's no wonder, then, that Hodgson has dubbed him an “excellent" colossus, with his former U16s coach Anthony Hayes even describing him as something akin to a "silent assassin."

Steve Parish now needs to take note as this is precisely why he simply can't afford to lose the £4.5m-rated ace. He's too important to their chances of guaranteeing Premier League survival this season.

AND in other news, Steve Parish made a big call by signing Mainz striker Jean-Philippe Mateta on loan...