6. Tom Soares
John Walton/EMPICS SportOne of the many extremely talented youngsters to have emerged from Crystal Palaces exceptional academy, Tom Soares is an athletic central midfielder who Palace also liked to put out on the wing because of his exceptional pace. Soares was capable of either holding the ball up or making driving runs of his own. The midfielder became a favourite of Neil Warnock when he took over midway through the 2007/08 season and, with the support of his manager, had his best goal scoring season to date. This excellent season for Palace caught the attention of Premier League clubs. When the Eagles came up short in the semi-finals of the play-offs against Bristol City, Soares jumped ship to newly promoted Stoke City for a fee of £1.25 million. Soares made a bright start in the top flight, personally winning the club two penalty kicks in their 2-1 win against Spurs. However, the midfielder fell out of favour quickly at the Britannia Stadium. Though he would remain signed with Stoke until 2012, he never played for them again as he was put on a string of loans to Charlton, Sheffield Wednesday and Hibernian. In 2012 Stoke finally took their meat hooks out of Soares and he joined League Two team Bury where he still resides. It is a great shame that a talent like Soares made the jump to the Premier League too soon and consequently never reached his potential.