The 2020/21 season was nothing short of sensational for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi. After starring for the Under-18s in their first season as a Category 1 Academy, he made his debut for the Under-23s side, signed his first professional deal and appeared in a Premier League matchday squad for the first time.
After establishing himself as a key part of Paddy McCarthy’s Academy side, he scored eight goals in 16 games as they took the title-race down to the wire in the U18s Premier League South, missing out on the final day on goal difference.
After arriving from Chelsea in 2019, Rak-Sakyi has sought guidance from senior teammates as his progression continues, modelling his game on Eberechi Eze. “He’s been really supportive of me,” he revealed. “I’ve been speaking to him quite a lot. We really bond together, because we come from similar backgrounds. It’s good to know you have someone there to talk to you, and someone there to support you.”
As his good form continued, he won praise from Roy Hodgson: “For such a young man he's shown a remarkable maturity and a remarkable sangfroid. I’m very pleased with him, very pleased for him and we believe at Crystal Palace that he has a big future and will get better and better.”
In August 2021 Rak-Sakyi made his competitive debut as second-half substitute against Chelsea in the Premier League, after a pre-season with the first-team. He scored on his England Under-20s debut the following month.
He went on score on his England Under-20s debut and scooped the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for February 2022. He ended the season as the league's joint-top scorer with 18 goals from 25 games.
Rak-Sakyi earned a loan move to League One Charlton Athletic in August 2022. He went on to score 15 goals and register 10 assists in 49 games across all competitions for The Addicks in 2022/23.
His performances saw him win Charlton's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards. The winger was also nominated for the EFL's Young Player of the Season award.
At the start of 2023/24, he came on as a second-half substitute against Arsenal at Selhurst Park and started against Plymouth Argyle and Manchester United in the Carabao Cup.
In October 2023, Rak-Sakyi came off the bench to play 75 minutes against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League and was voted Man of the Match by the fans.
He scooped the October 2023 Player of the Month award for his cameos off the bench against Forest, Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur. A hamstring injury saw him miss the majority of the campaign, however he did return in late May to help the Under-21s to victory in the Premier League International Cup final against Jong PSV.
In August 2024, Rak-Sakyi moved to Sheffield United on a season-long loan, following a strong pre-season in which he scored three goals in two games.
The winger was integrated right into Chris Wilder's side, regularly starting games or making appearances off the bench in their opening games of the campaign. He scored his first two goals against Luton Town in October.
Rak-Sakyi also featured as part of the new Palace TV series Loan Life where we got an unprecedented insight into his life on loan at the Blades.
He continued to be a threat for the South Yorkshire outfit as the season went on, helping them reach the play-off final. They unfortunately fell short of the mark, losing out to Sunderland in stoppage time. Rak-Sakyi finished his season with 36 appearances across all competitions for the Blades, scoring seven times and notching two assists.
