Demetri Kareem Mitchell (born 11 January 1997) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or as a winger for club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. Mitchell is a graduate of the Manchester United youth system and won the

Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effective ...

award in 2018. He made a single senior appearance for the club, in a

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

game in May 2017, and had two spells on loan at Scottish club Hearts. In September 2020, shortly after being released by United, he joined

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

. In January 2022, he joined Hibernian for an undisclosed fee. Mitchell represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-20 levels. He was a member of the under-17 squad which won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

Club career

Manchester United

Early career

Mitchell started his youth career with Fletcher Moss Rangers; the same academy where teammates

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson Cameron Jake Borthwick-Jackson (born 2 February 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back, most recently on loan at Ross County, from Śląsk Wrocław. Club career Manchester United Born in Manchester, Borthwick-Jack ...

and

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, on Loan (association football), lo ...

also started their careers. He joined United in 2013, and was originally deployed as a winger for their youth teams. However, after Borthwick-Jackson was loaned to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

for the 2016–17 season, Mitchell was converted to a left-back in his absence. Mitchell was called up to the Manchester United senior squad on 7 May 2017, training with the first team ahead of a

clash with rivals

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, but was not named in the 18-man matchday squad. A week later, he was named among the substitutes in a 2–1 defeat by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

, but again did not feature. He made his senior debut in the final game of the season, starting against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. The following season, Mitchell played in thirteen

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

fixtures, before going out on loan to Hearts.

Loans to Heart of Midlothian

On 11 January 2018, Mitchell was loaned to

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side Heart of Midlothian until the end of the season. He joined up with the squad at their winter training camp in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Mitchell made his debut for Hearts on 21 January 2018, playing from the start in a 1–0 win over

Edinburgh Derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any association football, football match played between Football in Scotland, Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian F.C., Hibernian (Hibs), the two o ...

rivals Hibernian at

Tynecastle Park Tynecastle Park, also known as Tynecastle Stadium, is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). A UEFA category four stadium, it ha ...

, in the fourth round of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

. In March, Mitchell returned to United for treatment for an injury to his meniscus tendon and was ruled out until the end of the season. He had first picked up the injury during a match against Ross County in February. Ultimately, he returned to training earlier than expected, playing in two further matches. In all, Mitchell made 11 appearances for Hearts in this spell, scoring once in all competitions. Mitchell returned to United for their preseason tour of the United States in July 2018, and subsequently signed a new contract with the club until 2020. On 28 August 2018, Mitchell was once again loaned to Hearts, this time on a season long loan. On his return, Mitchell stated that he felt he had "unfinished business" at Hearts due to his previous injury. In February 2019, he suffered a recurrence of the injury in a Scottish Cup game against Auchinleck Talbot, and was ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing an operation. Mitchell returned to training at Manchester United in September 2019, as he continued his recovery from the injury. In June 2020, the club announced that Mitchell would be leaving upon the expiration of his contract.

Blackpool

In August 2020, after spending time training with

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, Mitchell joined fellow

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

on trial. On 4 September 2020, Blackpool announced that Mitchell had signed a two-year contract with the club, with an option to extend the deal by a further year.

Hibernian

Mitchell joined Scottish club Hibernian for an undisclosed fee on 24 January 2022. On 29 January 2022, Mitchell scored in his first start for Hibs, a 3–2 defeat to Livingston.

Exeter City

On 26 January 2023, Mitchell signed for League One club

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

on a free transfer. On 4 February, Mitchell scored on his debut for the Grecians, shortly after coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 home defeat to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

. On 26 September, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over

side

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

third round, though was sent off five minutes later after receiving a second yellow card. In the following round against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on 31 October, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury that would ultimately rule him out for the remainder of the season. On 19 June 2024, Mitchell signed a new one-year contract with the club. On the 29 October 2024, Mitchell returned from injury, 364 days after his last appearance, as a substitute and scored the winning goal in a 3–2 victory against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

Leyton Orient

On 27 June 2025, Orient announced the player had signed a deal with the club.

International career

Mitchell has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-20 levels. He was a member of the England under-17 squad which won the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. He also won the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 and died in 2016. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 29 ...

, starting in the final against Ivory Coast. In January 2022 Mitchell said that he hoped to represent

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, where his grandparents were born. On 19 May 2025, he made the preliminary 60-man squad for the Jamaica national team for the

2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup is the 18th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. Canada and the United States are hosting th ...

Career statistics

Honours

England U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competition, having ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

England U20 *

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual *

: 2017–18 * Darren 'Baby Boy' Byfield Is The Most 2003 Footballer Ever Award for 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the Exeter City F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Demetri 1997 births Living people Footballers from Manchester Men's association football defenders English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Fletcher Moss Rangers F.C. players English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent English Football League players Exeter City F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen