'The money never motivated me': John Bostock reflects on a career that has taken him from Tottenham to TorontoBy Anthony Clavane, Steve Stammers
John Bostock would seem to be a prime candidate for the “too much, too young” brigade.
Five years ago, he was a teenage prodigy at Crystal Palace, a first-teamer while he was still at school studying for his GCSEs.
He was the next big thing, watched by Barcelona and admired by Arsenal and other Premier League clubs.
In the summer of 2008, he joined Tottenham for £700,000. Yet this weekend he’s been preparing to face LA Galaxy during his loan spell with FC Toronto. Not exactly an upward curve when spells at Swindon, Brentford, Sheffield Wednesday and Hull are taken into account.
“But money,” 21-year-old Bostock insisted, “was never my motivation.
“I turned down moves that would have earned me more but chose Tottenham because I was impressed about what they had planned for me.
“It just didn’t work out. Yes, hindsight is a great thing, isn’t it? When I think back, of course it may have been better to have stayed at Palace for another year or two.
“But when one of the biggest clubs in Europe wants you and you like what they have to say, it seemed the right decision.
“It was a massive change for me. Huge. I was just 16, I had come from a club which I supported and played for, and where I knew everyone.
Then I was at a club where there were two internationals for every position. It was difficult to adapt, I will admit that.
“Maybe it didn’t help when the manager who signed me, Juande Ramos, left soon after I joined and Mr Redknapp came in.
“Then came the loans. I tried to learn something from everywhere I played and every manager.”
Toronto seems to be something of an outpost.
But he was targeted by new boss Ryan Nelsen, the ex-QPR and Spurs defender, and is enjoying what he wanted all along – regular first-team football. “All I want to do is play. First-team football is everything,” said Bostock, who hopes to follow the trail set by Peter Beardsley in the early 1980s. He had two spells in Vancouver, joined Newcastle and was in England’s 1986 World Cup squad.
Bostock said: “I know some people might think I am one of those players who is in the cash comfort zone and drifting.
“But that is not me. My contract at Tottenham is up in June and that is when my loan spell is over. We will have to look at things again then.
“My hope is that I will improve by playing here in Canada. I am only 21. There is still time for me to achieve what I want.”
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