John Bostock caused a stir in England when Tottenham Hotspur coughed up over £1m to sign the 16-year-old starlet from London rivals Crystal Palace. The midfielder had already broken records at Selhurst Park, becoming Palace's youngest ever player when he made his first team debut with a subsitute appearance at just 15, starting a game just a month later. Big things were expected of the England Under-17 captain, and he also became the youngest player ever to play for Spurs when he made a subsitute appearance in a UEFA Cup match in 2008. That record breaking appearance was the peak of his time at White Hart Lane, though. Loan spells followed at Brentford, Hull City, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindown Town and Toronto FC but he failed to make a lasting impact anywhere and was released by Spurs after 5 years without having made a league appearance. After Spurs he ended up in the Belgian second tier, impressing at Royal Antwerp under the management of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. His one season their earned a move to newly relegated Oud-Heverlee Leuven (OHL) who he helped to promotion back to the Belgian top flight in his debut season, earning the division's player of the year award in the process. Still just 24, time is on Bostock's side and he my yet fulfill his undoubted potential away from the glaring media spotlight in England, but so far he has failed to live up to the hype.
David is an office drone and freelance writer for WhatCulture and Moviepilot, among others. He's also foolishly writing a serialised novel on Jukepop and has his own irregularly updated website. He's available for freelance work. Reach out on Twitter to @davefox990
