The Debate: The sad tale of John Bostock's itinerant odyssey

The words of Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan in 2007, when his academy star John Bostock decided to make a move to Tottenham.

Spurs had said that the teenager had "reached agreement" to join them.

Palace, where he had been since the tender age of seven, said he had not, and they would retain his registration until they received adequate financial compensation. They had offered the young man a professional contract already, one with significant monetary recompense, and then-manager Neil Warnock by all accounts saw him as the lynchpin of the Palace midfield for years to come.

Jordan implied throughout that Bostock had been led by his stepfather, Mick Brown, who had taken on the responsibility of contract negotiation having relieved former agent Colin Gordon of his duties. The word was that Brown had approached several other clubs touting his stepson's services - and the offer that came in from Tottenham was the most attractive one.

Jordan complained about a "litany of lies" - and in a final act of revenge, announced that he would be returning lifelong Palace fans' Brown and Bostock's season tickets, as they were no longer welcome at Selhurst Park.

How had it come to this? At the age of 15, Bostock had become the youngest player ever to represent the Eagles; the year before, Barcelona had swooped in to offer £1.5 million for him.

In the end, a tribunal ruled that Tottenham needed to pay just £700,000 to secure Bostock's signature - less than half the £2 million Palace wanted.

They were slightly mollified by the add-ons - more money when he reached a certain number of appearances, and a percentage of his next transfer fee.

But that money never came.

He made just three senior appearances for Tottenham - all in the Europa League, of all competitions - and found himself repeatedly shipped out on loan.

In 2013, he moved to Belgium on a free transfer, endeavouring to resurrect his career at Royal Antwerp.

One year later, he switched to OH Leuven, spending two years there before signing for Lens. After two seasons, he headed to Bursaspor in Turkey for five months, then back to France, where he joined Toulouse, and then spent 2019-20 on loan at Nottingham Forest.

Now aged 28, Bostock has never made more than 60 senior appearances for any one club. He is the archetypal journeyman pro. And there's no shame in that. But considering what might have been - had he gone to Spain at the age of 14, or if he had stayed at Palace as initially expected at the age of 16 - it's a clear case of sadly unfulfilled potential, perhaps even sadder because it seems, if reports are to be believed, to have been the input of his stepfather that hampered his progress.

Almost a decade later, though, Bostock was named player of the season - in Ligue 2. He was thrilled.

Simon Jordan, though, was less so.

He evidently maintained the grudge that emanated in 2007 - but also quite correctly pointed out that much, much bigger things had been expected from this young man.