‘I like him a lot’ – England U21 boss Carsley impressed by Palace youngster Rak-Sakyi
BY ANDREW MCSTEEN
Crystal Palace U23 forward Jesurun Rak-Sakyi continued his dream season with a second call-up to the England U20s squad this week.
It comes after his scoring debut with the Young Lions back in September and the blistering form of the Southwark-raised teenager has also caught the attention of England U21 boss Lee Carsley.
“I like him, I like him a lot,” said Carsley to the South London Press: “He’s on the radar, like all of the U20s and all of the U19s.
“We basically try and plot where they’re going to be and how they can they can progress [but] the way I see it at the moment is that he’s got to overcome Harvey Elliott, Anthony Gordon, Noni Madueke, Tino Livramento and Keane Lewis-Potter, so it’s difficult to get through that at the minute.”
This season has seen Rak-Sakyi make his first team debut away at Chelsea in the Premier League opener in August, regularly train with Patrick Vieira’s squad, score 15 goals in 21 U23 games and be awarded the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for February.
But with such a formidable line-up of Premier League and Championship players in front of him at England U21 level, the 19-year-old may have to wait a while and this time, according to Carsley, may be beneficial for the youngster move from the Palace academy to gain valuable first time experience.
“What I’ve noticed is trying to compare a player who is playing in the U23s with a player that’s playing in the Championship is very difficult,” explained Carsley. “I expect one to do really well and I expect one to struggle and it’s having the eye to see how [these players] would fit in there.
“The quicker these players can get out on loan or play senior football it helps them [as] part of their development. It’s an important part of making that next step.”
Along with Rak-Sakyi, Palace January transfer window signing from Derby, Luke Plange, who returned to his club for the rest of the season on loan, has also been called up to the England U20s.
The pair are part of a 22-man squad for a trip to face Poland in Bielsko-Biala on Friday, March 25 and against Germany in Colchester on Tuesday, March 29.
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