John Bostock appeared to have the world at his feet when he broke through at Crystal Palace at the tender age of 15.
But fast forward 15 years and the golden boy who was tipped to dominate football is on the lookout for the 15th club of his career after leaving Doncaster Rovers earlier this summer.
That prospect of Bostock being without a permanent home at this age would have been almost unfathomable a decade-and-a-half ago. After all, the midfield maestro was a regular for England at youth level appeared to be destined for the very top after making his senior debut as a teenager for Palace.
And he revealed that clubs were aware of his prodigious talent even before his historic debut. "You name the club, I had interest from them," Bostock told BBC Sport back in November 2020. " Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool – the who's who of European football.
"When I was 14, Barcelona offered me a 10-year contract. Ronaldinho was my favourite player at the time so they sent me a signed poster from him. I've still got it at my house in London. It said: 'To John from Ronaldinho.' I saw Ronaldinho win these trophies and I just thought I want to be that guy. I pinned my identity on that and I thought if I didn’t achieve that, I was a failure.”
Despite extensive interest in his services, Bostock decided to stay in London; Tottenham won the hotly contested race for his signature for an initial fee of £700,000 - a sum set by a tribunal that left then-Palace chairman Simon Jordan incensed.
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Bostock joined Spurs in 2008 and had various spells on loan in the EFL with clubs such as Brentford, Hull City, Swindon Town and Sheffield Wednesday. But he left Tottenham four years later without making a single league appearance.
Since then, Bostock has been all over Europe but has failed to live up to the lofty expectations that were placed upon him as a teenager.
The 30-year-old has played in Belgium, Turkey and France with varying results and has even had brief spells in the MLS with Toronto FC and Turkey with Bursaspor.
With his stock at an all-time low after leaving Tottenham, Bostock rebuilt his reputation in the Belgian second division with Royal Antwerp and OH Leuven and was even crowned as the league's player of the season during Leuven's promotion campaign back in 2015/16 after chalking up a staggering 32 goal contributions (13 G, 19A).
That form earned him a move to Toulouse in the French top flight; the type of stage the playmaker appeared to be destined to grace on a regular basis.
“I’m now playing in one of the best leagues in Europe, and I’ve grown as a person hugely through my experiences abroad. I’m definitely proud of what I’ve achieved," he told The Telegraph back in 2018.
His experiences overseas helped put him back on the radar of English clubs, and a loan switch to Nottingham Forest soon followed. But his season-long stint at the City Ground was not a fruitful one and he made just a handful of appearances in the Championship.
Over the past 18 months, Bostock found a home in the third tier with Doncaster - the same level where he made such a big impression during his first loan spell away from Tottenham with Brentford.
However, the midfielder is currently back on the market and waiting for his next move after turning down the chance to stay with Rovers, who were relegated to League Two back in May.
Doncaster's head of football operations James Coppinger confirmed back in June: “[Bostock] feels he can play at a higher level and doesn’t want to step into League Two which we respect, and wish him all the best from the club’s perspective."
