When John Bostock became Crystal Palace's youngest-ever player aged just 15, there seemed little that would stop him from becoming a top player in the future.

However, a move to Tottenham Hobtspur the following year arguably ruined his chances of development and now, aged 30, he finds himself without a club following his exit from Doncaster Rovers during the summer.

Bostock made his first-team debut for the Eagles in October 2007, coming off the bench in a 2-0 defeat against Watford, and he looked set for a bright career at Selhurst Park.

However, his head was turned by a move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2008, with that transfer seemingly a huge factor in Bostock failing to live up to his immense potential.

Former Palace chairman Simon Jordan was less than impressed when Bostock made the switch to Spurs, saying:

"Like everything in this miserable game, it comes down to pounds, shillings and pence. Surely it should be down to what is best for a 16-year-old boy and where he is most likely to play."

Jordan wasn't far wrong, as in five years at Spurs, Bostock would make just four first-team appearances before he was released in 2013.

Since then, the midfielder's career has taken him far and wide, with his best spells arguably coming in Belgium with Oud-Heverlee Leuven and France with RC Lens, where he hit 26 goals and 14 assists in a combined 106 appearances.

The former Palace wonderkid would return to England in 2019, signing for Nottingham Forest, where he would make only nine appearances in the 2019/20 campaign.

He continued to struggle for consistency and joined Doncaster Rovers in League One, but endured an injury-disrupted spell at the Keepmoat Stadium, and left the club after their relegation to League Two last season.

Despite being a free agent for more than four months now, it seems as if no side is willing to take the gamble of signing Bostock, which shows how far he has fallen since his move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Had he remained with Crystal Palace and continued to play first-team football as a teenager, there is no telling how much he could have achieved, but sadly it seems as if money ruined his chances of a career at the top.